The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has condemned attempts by political parties to declare results of the presidential election prior to the official announcement by the Electoral Commission (EC).
The group appealed to Ghanaians to remain calm and patiently wait for the EC to officially declare the results.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Party (NDC) both declared that they had won the 2016 presidential election recently.
The declaration by the two parties led to spontaneous jubilation by supporters of both the NDC and NPP, who took to the streets.
Making the appeal at a press conference at the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Centre (KAIPTC), CODEO urged all political parties and citizens to be law-abiding and allow the EC to discharge its duties.
“CODEO can confidently confirm that the arrangement put in place by the EC for setup and opening of polls were adequate for most polling stations and that the polling and counting process were generally credible,” said Justice Crabbe, Co-chair of CODEO.
He indicated that the group would continue to observe the process especially at Jaman North Constituency, 275 constituency collation centers, as well as the National Results Collation Center.
Prof Miranda Greenstreet, Co-chair of CODEO, on her part, indicated that CODEO, which has completed its Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT), has its estimates for the presidential election.
She noted that in keeping with their protocols, CODEO would release its PVT estimates for the presidential election results following the official announcement by the EC in order to provide independent verification.
“CODEO’s PVT serves as a powerful deterrent to help ensure that the results announced by the EC reflect the ballots cast at polling stations,” Prof. Greenstreet said.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri