8th December 2012
NPP Reminds NDC: Saturday’s Voting Takes Place In Only 1% Of
Total Number Of Polling Stations
Boakye Agyarko, the Campaign
Manager of Nana Akufo-Addo's campaign for President, today
predicted with confidence a solid first round victory for the NPP
presidential candidate.
With only a fraction of votes in less than one percent of
polling stations yet to be cast, due to faulty biometric
verification machines on December 7, the President of the Republic
and the ruling National Democratic Congress are clutching at straws
and creating the impression as if the remaining votes, when cast,
can overturn the obvious defeat that the ruling party has suffered
in this election.
Mr Boakye Agyarko said the NDC should not use the problem
which affected a relatively tiny number of polling centres as an excuse for their bad showing in
Friday’s presidential and parliamentary polls. For example, voting
will take place Saturday in 73 polling stations in Greater Accra,
25 in the Central Region and only 2 in the Volta
Region.
“This cannot be said to amount to a disaster, especially,
when there is an opportunity to redress this matter today,” he
said.
“We are happy that the EC, in accordance with the law, will
allow voters who missed out Friday, as a result of faulty
equipment, to exercise their franchise today, Saturday, December 8.
We are, therefore, calling on all our supporters to come out once
again in their numbers and vote.”
But, the NPP Campaign Manager could not hide his party’s
disappointment with attempts by the NDC to discredit the elections.
“We do not think it is proper for the NDC to seek to use this
relatively marginal percentage of total votes left to be cast to
say that the 2012 general elections have been marred, as the NDC
has sought to do,” he said.
The President, on Friday, called for people to be allowed to
vote without biometric verification, contrary to the law. This has
been condemned by the NPP as “irresponsible and
unnecessary.”
Mr Boakye Agyarko has urged the President and NDC
Presidential Candidate, John Dramani Mahama, to stop making
unlawful pronouncements on the electoral process and display good
sportsmanship in allowing the rest of the voters, who were unable
to cast their votes on December 7 to proceed on Saturday to
exercise their franchise, in a transparent and lawful manner,
according to the biometric process.
The NPP Campaign Manager has described the call by the
President of the Republic, Friday, that voters must proceed to vote
without subjecting their identity to biometric verification, as
"dangerous and irresponsible," adding, "it is the last shrill of a
government which knows it has lost but is desperately seeking for
any illegitimate opening to overturn the people's
mandate."
"We are calling on the EC to stick strictly to the law, which
gives voters in all polling stations where voting was suspended
yesterday an opportunity to cast their ballots today, using
biometric verification so that a legitimate and clear victory for
Nana Akufo-Addo can be declared as quickly as possible once all
votes are cast, and a transition process from Mr Mahama's caretaker
Presidency can begin."
"Based on all the data being received, Nana Akufo-Addo is on
course to win a 1st round victory with an incontestable margin. NPP
parliamentary candidates are winning seats that we had never won
before. This, which is happening across the country, is a clear
indication of an NPP victory, which will produce a parliamentary
majority, as well, and the general performance of our parliamentary
candidate is exceeding expectations. We have challengers who have
upset sitting MPs and Ministers, which shows that Nana Akufo-Addo
and the NPP's vision of change and transforming Ghana has resonated
with voters and has resulted in a clear victory."
Agyarko cited
high turnout in the Ashanti Region, expected to be over 80% in the
NPP stronghold. He also pointed out higher than usual NPP
support in the Northern Region, and
anemic NDC turnout in their primary stronghold, the Volta
region.
Agyarko thanked
voters for their patience and enthusiasm for the free and fair
process. He assured them that no one would be disenfranchised, and
reiterated his call to the Electoral Commission and the security
services to discharge their duties with excellence so that all
voters can express their will on Saturday morning in a credible and
legitimate vote. In closing, he reiterated the NPP's demand that
the NDC Presidential Candidate, John Mahama, immediately backs down
from his effort to stonewall a free, fair, and legitimate vote by
attacking the biometric process that assures credibility and
integrity of Ghanaians' votes.
