President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and John Mahama
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is on course to secure a second term in office, according provisional results of the December 7 Presidential Election, as gathered by Daily Guide.
As at 10pm yesterday, with only 621 representing 1.6% of polling stations to declare, the provisional results of 38,312 (98.40%) showed that President Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had gathered 6,687,825 representing some 51.40% with former President John Dramani Mahama of the opposition National democratic Congress (NDC), trailing with 6,159,388 representing 47.27%.
According to sources, the 1.6% of the polling stations remaining had a total vote of less than 300,000 and even if Mr. Mahama won all of them without a single vote coming to President Akufo-Addo, the former President was not going to catch up let alone force a run off.
On the parliamentary front provisional results showed that the NPP had been able to secure some 137 seats with the NDC grabbing around 134 seats whilst one had gone to an independent candidate, two being contested and one outstanding.
140 Seats Claim
The NPP currently has 169 seats in parliament and the NDC has 106.
For the NDC to get the 140 seats they are claiming, the NPP would have to lose 34 seats but the NDC does not also only need to snatch the 34 seats from the NPP but have to ensure they (NDC)do not lose a single seat.
Currently, provisional results show that the NPP has lost some seats but they have also snatched 16 seats from the NDCat the same time and that would leave the NPP with 149 seats, a clear majority in parliament per the rough calculations.
As it stands, the NPP has not only won the presidential election but they have also maintained a majority in parliament as the provisional results are showing.
Mahama Statement
Around 7:30pm, former President John Mahama flanked by all the NDC gurus addressed a hurriedly-arranged news conference saying he was not going to concede any defeat.
“I want to state categorically and firmly that I have not congratulated any person and no attempt should be made to steal this election; we’ll resist it,” he said, adding “We thank the Ghanaian people for the confidence they’ve expressed in us.”
He then said “it’s clear the Ghanaian people want a change in this country; Ghanaians are tired of Akufo-Addo and his government.”
Mr. Mahama said the NDC’s analysis of the results show that the biggest opposition party has won the majority of seats in Parliament, saying “We thank the electorate for giving us a working majority in parliament; 140 seats in Parliament, which is a majority and no attempt should be made to subvert that.
“I’ve looked at the results we’ve collated so far and I’m excited, I’m happy with the results; we won in 10 regions out of 16 and the Ghanaian people have expressed confidence in us.
“We would resist any attempt to subvert the will of the people,” he repeated and accused the President of resorting to undemocratic means to steal the will of the people.
“Some of what is happening is unacceptable and Nana Akufo-Addo continues to show credentials that are very undemocratic: You cannot use the military to try to overturn some of the results in constituencies that we have won and, so, we would resist any attempt to subvert the sovereign will of the people. The right thing must be done,” he claimed.
“We’ve collated our results and we thank the Ghanaian people for the confidence they have in us and we will give further details later … and our people should remain calm as we wait for the final verdict but we are happy that Ghanaians have voted for change,” he said.
Congratulatory Message
The presidential candidate of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Dr. Henry Herbert Lartey, called President Akufo-Addo to “congratulate him on his victory in the presidential election” and also concede.
The Director of the Communication at the Presidency Eugene Arhin said “The presidential candidate of the GCPP, Dr Henry Herbert Lartey, has just called President Akufo-Addo to concede defeat and congratulate him on his victory in the presidential election”, MrArhin wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday night.
Gov’t Reaction
After Mr. Mahama’s address, the government reacted through Minister of Information KojoOppong Nkrumah who described as unfortunate the call by the former President to ask NDC supporters to pour unto the streets to celebrate ‘victory.’
“A claim by Mr. Mahama that his party has won parliamentary majority is false. So it is important that this claim is shot down now. The figure the Electoral Commission is putting out is very clear and we want everyone and the international community to take note of it,” the OfoaseAyirebi MP who just retained his seat said.
“It is must be said that it is utterly irresponsible for Mr. Mahama to ask his supporters to get out there and jubilate. That is contrary to the Peace Pact that was signed by Presidential candidates before the elections. So his actions go against what he himself signed on to as a candidate.”