Former President Mahama and NDC running mate Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang at the Manhyia palace
Even though the various reports from media houses, civil society organisations and election observers have concluded that the December 7 elections were transparent and credible, with the presidential candidate of the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the clear winner, John Dramani Mahama and his NDC still think otherwise.
As far as they are concerned, all the stakeholders in the elections, apart from them, got it all wrong as far as their assessments and reports are concerned.
The just-ended elections saw Nana Akufo-Addo beating John Dramani Mahama with over 51 per cent of the votes cast.
Former President Mahama has rejected the results, alleging that the election was rigged in favour of the winner.
“I stand before you tonight unwilling to accept the fictionalised results of a flawed election. We will take all legitimate steps to reverse this tragedy of justice,” he said at a press conference.
Go to court
Many pundits, however, believe the former President, although is fully aware he has lost the election, is only trying to massage the disappointment of NDC supporters.
The NDC, through uncountable press conferences, has argued that the election could go into a run-off had the EC waited to add that of Techiman South.
But at a press conference, Jean Mensa, the EC chair, said after collating results nationally, her outfit believed result from the Techiman South polls would not have any effect on the general outcome.
To this end, former President Mahama and the NDC have been advised to seek redress from the law courts if they think the election was rigged.
But the vice-president of IMANI Ghana, Kofi Bentil, insists that no data presented by the NDC could change the verdict.
Mr Bentil, on Joy FM’s Newsfile last Saturday, dared the NDC to provide the supposed data that could overturn the verdict.
“Bring the evidence and show me that the evidence is of such materiality that it can make a change in the ultimate declaration that has been made. Everything we’ve looked at does not suggest that.
“So NDC should feel free to say whatever they want to say but until they can put up that material evidence, which means we may have to change the results, they need to change their tone a bit,” he stated.
Mr Bentil cautioned the NDC to desist from allegations that indicate that the election was stolen or the figures were fictitious. He further advised the opposition political party not to dramatize its plight.
“If you dramatize your case, you will lose people,” he added.
For his part, the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, has asked Mr Mahama to challenge the verdict of the elections at the Supreme Court if he disagrees with the outcome.
“This is the only legitimate way to kill the mischief which he is complaining about,” he added.
Mr Baako further said although Mr Mahama can resort to various legitimate means to register his displeasure, the best option is to seek the services of the Supreme Court.
“Anything else Mr Mahama does – demonstrations, hunger strike, everything, though legitimate and democratic – they are not a substitute for judicial determination relative to declarations made by the EC,” he said.
He further recalled events from 2012 when President Akufo-Addo petitioned the Supreme Court to challenge the outcome of that year’s election, saying “that particular experience informed the improvement and progress the country has made in its election architecture.”
CODEO
Meanwhile, the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has said its independently-collated results are consistent with that of the EC.
“Given that the official result announced by the Electoral Commission for each candidate falls within their respective PVT estimated confidence ranges, CODEO can confidently confirm that its PVT estimates are consistent with the official presidential election results,” it said in its report.
“We encourage any party or candidate with issues about the presidential results to peacefully resolve these through proper legal and procedural channels. CODEO appeals to Ghanaians to remain calm, law-abiding and allow the systems to work,” parts of the report read.
Media
Other media reports had also put President Akufo-Addo in an appreciable lead to securing a second term victory. Multimedia Group Limited had reported that President Akufo-Addo was leading with some 5,407,354 votes, representing 51.59 per cent, as against the NDC’s John Mahama’s 4,932,289 votes.
Citi TV/FM also projected the President to win with a percentage point of 51.79, as against Mr Mahama’s 46.69 per cent.
Other media houses like United Television, Adom TV, TV3, Angel TV, Oman FM, all through their projections predicted a one touch victory for President Nana Akufo-Addo.
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