Ablekuma North: NDC’s Mahdi Gibril Fingers EC Over Parliamentary Seat Impasse

The ongoing electoral dispute in the Ablekuma North constituency has drawn sharp criticism from Mahdi Gibril, Deputy National Director of Elections for the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Speaking to Kessben TV on Maakye show, Gibril accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of legal inconsistencies and partiality, which he believes have left the constituency without parliamentary representation.

Gibril emphasized the NDC’s commitment to democratic principles, stating, “The NDC is a political party that believes in principles, and it is our will that, all things being equal, after every election, every constituency gets their respective representatives in Parliament.”
He alleged that specific EC officials, including Dr. Bossman Asare, Samuel Tetteh, and Chairperson Jean Mensa, have not been transparent about the issues in Ablekuma North, leading to police involvement to ensure fairness and peace.

The controversy centers around the destruction of over 116 polling station pink sheets during post-election chaos, leaving the EC without official documents to complete the collation process. Gibril argued that, by law, the EC cannot use pink sheets from political parties for collation if it lacks its own copies.

He pointed out a precedent in the Dome Kwabenya constituency, where the EC refused to accept the NDC’s pink sheets due to the absence of its own, leading to a rerun. Contrarily, in Ablekuma North, the EC is reportedly considering scanned documents from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), a move Gibril deems unlawful.

“If the EC did not have pink sheets for Ablekuma North, what should they have done lawfully?” Gibril questioned, highlighting the inconsistency in the EC’s approach between different constituencies.
As the impasse continues, the constituents of Ablekuma North remain without parliamentary representation, raising broader concerns about electoral integrity and democratic governance in Ghana.

By:Gifty Bediako Yamoah