May 16, 2023 – The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has officially announced Edem Agbana as the winner of the party's parliamentary primaries in the Ketu North constituency of the Volta Region. The declaration was made today by the General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey.
Following the primaries held on Saturday, confusion arose between the two main contenders, Edem Agbana and John Adanu Zewu, due to a tie. Initially, Edem Agbana was declared the winner by a narrow margin of one vote. However, during two subsequent recounts, the Electoral Commission (EC) discovered three ballot papers that were not stamped.
Out of the three unstamped ballots, two were found to be cast in favor of Edem Agbana, while one was in favor of John Adanu. Despite the EC not officially declaring a winner, Edem Agbana maintained that he was the rightful winner.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Fifi Kwetey clarified the situation, stating that the unstamped ballot papers were part of the original booklet provided by the party, indicating that they were not foreign materials. Furthermore, there was no evidence of over-voting, as the tallying process conducted by the candidates' agents matched the number of ballot papers found in the ballot box.
“After careful consideration, it was ascertained that the ballot papers in question were authentic and an integral part of the booklet provided by the national office to the constituency. Additionally, there was no overvoting,” said Fifi Kwetey.
Taking these factors into account, the NDC concluded that the authentic will of the voters was reflected in the original result. Edem Agbana emerged as the winner with 360 votes, closely followed by John Adanu with 359 votes. Despite the slim margin, the NDC upheld the will of the people of Ketu North.
Fifi Kwetey emphasized, “Therefore, we hereby declare Edem Agbana as the winner of the parliamentary primaries in Ketu North. Although it was a close contest, the people have spoken, and Edem Agbana emerged with the majority of votes.”
