2024 Ablekuma North parliamentary polls: NPP objects to EC’s decision to rerun 19 polling stations ... Party heads to court
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has rejected the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to rerun the election in 19 polling stations to resolve the impasse in the Ablekuma-North Constituency.
In has subsequently asked its legal team to injunct the EC from carrying out the announced rerun scheduled for Friday, July 11, 2025.
The party’s General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, at a press conference in Accra last Thursday, described the EC’s directive as “unlawful, arbitrary and self-serving.”
“This decision by the EC is not only shocking but also completely inconsistent with the facts on record and the orders of the High Court. We are heading to court to stop this unlawful rerun and protect the sovereign will of the people of Ablekuma North,” Mr Frimpong said.
He recalled that the High Court on January 4, 2025, ordered the EC to complete the collation of parliamentary results in four constituencies, including Ablekuma North.
Since then, he said, the EC had collated results from 59 out of the 62 outstanding polling stations, with only three left to conclude the process.
He maintained that those figures were verified in the presence of party agents and EC officials.
Mr Frimpong expressed concern that the EC’s justification that the 19 polling station results were not verified by presiding officers despite being approved by party agents was an afterthought and a reversal of its earlier position.
“Even the Deputy Chairperson of the EC, Dr Eric Bossman Asare, told Parliament just weeks ago that only three polling station results remained. What changed?” he asked.
Political pressure
The general secretary also accused the EC of succumbing to political pressure from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), claiming the move was part of a broader plot to overturn the party’s parliamentary victory in the constituency.
He said the NPP’s candidate, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyieh, won the seat with 34,613 votes against the NDC’s 34,199, based on pink sheets in the party’s possession.
Citing the constitution and the country’s electoral laws, Mr Frimpong insisted that only a court of competent jurisdiction could order a rerun of elections, not the EC.
He, therefore, called on the commission to comply with the High Court’s order and complete the collation of the remaining three polling stations under police protection.
“The EC is a creature of law. It cannot exercise powers that the law does not grant it. We urge the commission to rise above partisanship and uphold its constitutional duty without fear or favour,” he said.
Mr Frimpong urged civil society, religious leaders and the National Peace Council to speak out against what it described as a dangerous precedent that could undermine future elections in the country.
