The Deputy Director of Elections for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mahdi Gibril, has confirmed that the party initially contested the results of the Kpandai parliamentary election in 41 out of the constituency’s 152 polling stations.
He acknowledged the subsequent decision by the Tamale High Court to nullify the results of all polling stations, emphasizing that the ruling was based purely on the outcome of the court case and was not influenced by political favoritism.
In an interview on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, Mr. Gibril clarified that while the NDC only challenged the results from 41 polling stations, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) filed a corresponding response.
This response included a counter-challenge, citing alleged irregularities in polling stations where the NDC had secured a victory.
”Consequently,” Mr. Gibril stated, “the presiding judge ruled that the elections should be re-run entirely.”
He urged party communicators to cease spreading falsehoods regarding the case and refrain from giving it a political interpretation.
Minority’s Concerns and NDC’s Counter
Mr. Gibril’s remarks follow the Minority Caucus’s expression of disagreement with the court’s ruling.
According to the Minority, the NDC candidate, Daniel Nsala Wakpal, focused his initial suit on his absence during the collation in Tamale and alleged clerical errors in the aforementioned 41 polling stations.
It alleged that the NDC’s main witness testified that the total votes in contention were approximately 500, and even if these votes were awarded to the NDC candidate, he would have still lost by over 3,000 votes.
The Caucus stated that, despite this evidence, the Tamale High Court’s decision to nullify the entire results and order a re-run raises serious concerns as the facts, in their view, do not support the ruling.
However, Mahdi Gibril countered the NPP’s assertion, arguing their concerns are unfounded. He reiterated that the NPP themselves submitted documents challenging the results in polling stations won by the NDC, which compelled the judge to annul the entire results after examining the facts presented by both sides.
Mr. Gibril placed full accountability for the complete annulment on the NPP’s legal strategy.
”It is therefore surprising that the NPP is going around alleging that we went to court with only 41 polling stations when they brought in the remaining 111 polling stations, claiming that there were irregularities… So our lawyer then prayed the court to annul all the results. They have to blame themselves and not the court.”
He advised the Minority Caucus to educate themselves on electoral laws and refrain from engaging in “needless lures and fabrications.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
