Nana Akufo Addo and Charlotte Osei
Twenty-four hours after voting in this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections had ended, the Electoral Commission (EC) had not officially declared results from any of the 275 constituencies, raising anxiety among Ghanaians.
Following this, the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo – who was taking a commanding lead in the presidential race – has called on Ghanaians, especially supporters of his party, to exercise restraint.
Nana Akufo-Addo called for calm while urging them to give the Electoral Commission more time to collate the results of the presidential election before making any declaration.
“I want to appeal through you members of the media to the Ghanaian public and to members of my party that this is a time we have to remain very calm and focused. The eyes of the world are on us and it is important that we behave as Ghanaians, as people who understand their own self worth and their dignity,” the astute politician addressed journalists at his Nima residence where many party supporters had gathered yesterday.
Nana Addo said although it was going to be an anxious time, “I think all of us are duty bound to support her and give her the time so that we have a pronouncement that is devoid of controversy and of difficulty.”
He said the NPP was quite confident of winning the election, because according to him, by the tallying, the NPP had won 49 extra seats in parliament and stressed the belief that he had also won the main contest, the presidential election.
Nana Akufo-Addo gave the assurance that when officially declared winner of the presidential election, the NPP was going to bring about change that is going to see things put in place to “lift the Ghanaian economy upwards, create jobs and begin to bring prosperity to our people.”
He underscored, “That is our main task and it is a task we are going to take with 100 per cent seriousness; there is an excellent team waiting to assume control of Ghana to work tirelessly to bring about prosperity and progress to our country.”
For that to happen, he called for the support of every Ghanaian, no matter one’s political persuasion, where one comes from in order to move the Ghanaian project forward.
Congratulation Messages
The NPP flagbearer, who was with his running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, also used the occasion to express gratitude to some of his contenders who had sent him congratulatory messages ahead of the EC’s declaration of results.
“I take the opportunity to thank majority of my competitors who had sent warm words of congratulations to me. I appreciate it very much – words from Ivor Greenstreet, Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, Edward Mahama and also from Jacob Osei Yeboah. I thank them for their service to our country,” he said, believing “all of them are going to be part of what we are going to do to bring progress and prosperity to our country.”
Nana Addo thanked members of his party, especially Dr. Bawumia and his family who had stood behind him throughout the campaign period, for their commitment.
Nana reiterated his earlier call for calm in his concluding statement, charging, “Thank you very much; stay calm and let’s wait for the formal announcement of what we have done together and begin to move Ghana forward.”
That was moments after Chairperson of the EC, Charlotte Osei, had addressed a similar press conference at the EC headquarters during which she asked Ghanaians to give the EC time to collate results of the elections in order for the commission to declare accurate and credible results.
The EC boss claimed that it was unable to declare results for the keenly contested presidential and parliamentary elections because of complaints of over-voting at some unnamed constituency collation centres.
“As at now, we have received 25 constituency collated results at the National Collation Centre. However, the two major parties represented here at the NCC have declined to sign on the collated results until they have seen the pink sheets and confirmed the accuracy of the results collated. As a result, the commission has not been able to certify any of the 25 constituency results,” Ms Charlotte Osei explained.
Kufuor
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor also called for calm as tension had apparently built over the delay in the release of the election results.
Mr Kufuor told journalists at his residence yesterday that he trusts the EC to be fair in managing the entire election process.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri