The Electoral Commission (EC) has declared that it will not oversee the National Democratic Congress' primaries slated for Saturday, May 13, until all legal issues related to it are resolved.
The EC explained that holding the primaries would show disrespect to the judiciary and amount to contempt of court.
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This announcement was made by the Chairperson of the Commission, Madam Jean Mensa after the Commission met with representatives of all three NDC flagbearer hopefuls.
Dr Kwabena Duffour, a candidate in the presidential primaries, has filed a suit against the party, alleging that the voters' register for the exercise contains discrepancies.
In his writ filed at the Accra High Court, he claimed that the party failed to provide the required photo album register five weeks before the elections as per the party's rules.
Dr Duffour also stated that the party gave a partial photo album register to his team on May 4, a few days before the election, instead of in March when they requested it.
“The Plaintiff adds that to their utmost surprise, upon verification, it was found that the number of constituencies on the hard drive given to his representatives was 220 in number as opposed to the alleged number of 228 constituencies indicated by Defendant,” he stated.
Dr Duffour further asserted that a preliminary assessment of the 220 constituencies found errors and inaccuracies that rendered the Photo Album Register “inaccurate and unreliable for a free, fair, and credible election.”
Despite his request for the election's postponement, the party has failed to comply, according to Dr Duffour.
Thus, Dr Duffour has petitioned the court to grant an interlocutory injunction that would bar the party and others, including General Secretary, Election Director, co-contestants John Mahama and Kojo Bonsu, and the Electoral Commission from holding the elections scheduled for May 13.
The EC has indicated that it cannot organize the primaries for the primary opposition party if the suit is not addressed.
