General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, John Boadu
The governing New Patriotic Party has asked former President John Dramani Mahama to emulate President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and do the right thing, if he feels cheated in the December 7 general election.
According to the NPP, Mr Mahama is refusing to do the right thing because he knows “courts don’t operate according to the whims of a presidential candidate behaving like a child crying over candies.”
President Mahama has alleged that the December 7 general election was stolen by the Electoral Commission for President Akufo-Addo. However, all attempts and advice from voices of reason to get the NDC flagbearer to use the legitimate means to do the right thing appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
Emulate Akufo-Addo
Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, the NPP General Secretary, John Boadu, said “what is strange is the unwillingness of candidate Mahama to go to the appropriate forum to make his case for why, in spite of scoring a poor 47.3 per cent of the vote, he should be handed the presidency.”
“The Presidency is not his exclusive right to own. In 2012, we also felt cheated. Our presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, told his supporters that he didn’t want one drop of Ghanaian blood to be shed for him to be president. He said he would take his case to the courts. And he did exactly that.
“Even when the courts made a pronouncement and he disagreed with the verdict of the court, he accepted it with grace and dignity, and bounced back to win in 2016. We therefore urge Mahama to do the right thing by going to court,” Mr Boadu said.
He continued: “the Presidency is obtained by running in a presidential election conducted by the EC of Ghana and garnering 50 per cent plus 1 of the votes. Nothing else justifies a claim to the Jubilee House. Unfortunately for John Dramani Mahama, only a court of competent jurisdiction has the authority to hand him the presidency, in spite of his poor showing in the election. But he knows that courts don’t operate according to the whims of a presidential candidate behaving like a child crying over candies.
“Courts operate according to evidence. We know that John Dramani Mahama has become the butt of many jokes in Ghana today. But this new low that he has sunk sinks his image completely, whether as a human being or as John Dramani Mahama. His effusions further expose what is known of his credential as an incompetent person. In spite of the lessons that the NPP taught the NDC in 2016, the NDC did not have the presence of mind to set up a collation system. That is very poor indeed. But what is worse, is the recklessness with which John Dramani Mahama is conducting his political chess game,” the NPP General Secretary added.
Disturbing peace
Mr Boadu further accused Mr Mahama of endangering the security of the country on the altar of his selfish interest.
“You cannot be President at all costs. John Dramani Mahama is asking other people’s children to hit the streets for him to be candidate of his party in 2024 while his children are locked away in comfort and luxury in Dubai. That is most irresponsible to say the least,” he said.
“It is important to state that we also dispute the results of some parliamentary results. But we have not asked our supporters to go on the streets to protest these results. Our lawyers are putting our evidence together to go to the courts to challenge them. That is the way of the democracy that we have fashioned for ourselves. No other way works.”
“Ghana shall not burn on account for one person’s selfish interests,” he added.
The NPP has further stated that it is confident that it will win the Sene West seat, which is yet to declared by the Electoral Commission.
Condemnation
The party has further urged the media to ask the NDC to provide contrary figures if it feels cheated in the election.
“The results that the EC has put out has been corroborated by CODEO, endorsed as free and fair by the EU Mission, resolved by the media and accepted by CSOs and the international community.
“It cannot be the case that all these internationally reputable organisations are in cahoots with the EC to steal an election. The election of Nana Akufo-Addo as president-elect of the republic of Ghana reflects the will of the Ghanaian people, reflecting on the work that the Akufo-Addo led government has done in the last four years to advance the development of the country,” the party said calling on “Ghanaians to condemn without reservation, the intransigence of the NDC and urge the NDC to resort to the courts to address their grievances, if they believe they have any.”
“We call on the security agencies to be resolute and protect the state. We have confidence that majority of Ghanaians believe in and accept the verdict of the election as rendered by the EC and corroborated by all except the NDC,” the NPP added.
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