Source: citifmonline. com - Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, running mate to Nana Akufo-Addo, the Presidential Candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), has asked the Electoral Commission to immediately implement the Supreme Court’s ruling on the voters’ register, since election is only six months away.
The Supreme Court in a ruling today [Thursday], described the nation’s electoral register as “reasonably inaccurate” barely six months to a major presidential and parliamentary elections in November.
The Supreme Court in a ruling today [Thursday], described the nation’s electoral register as “reasonably inaccurate” barely six months to a major presidential and parliamentary elections in November.
The apex court made the statement in its ruling today [Thursday], in a case brought before it by a former National Youth Organizer of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Abu Ramadan and one Evans Nimako, who were challenging the credibility of the voters’ register.
The Court asked the EC to expunge from the current register the names of person who registered using the National Health Insurance Scheme card as a proof of identity. It also asked the Commission to re-register such persons using the right procedure.
Generally, the Court ordered the commission to use it’s own mechanisms in consultation with relevant stakeholders to immediately clean the register. Addressing students of the Accra Polytechnic in Accra today [Thursday], Dr. Bawumia said the ruling vindicates the NPP.
“Today, the Supreme Court finally ruled that in fact the voters’ register is not a credible register. We have said this for a long time so we expect the Electoral Commission to very quickly and immediately put together modalities for addressing this issue and removing the names of all the categories specified by the Supreme Court.”
He further charged the EC to ensure that the ruling is fully adhered to. “I think whichever way you look at it, if you are going to do this in a most efficient way, you probably will need a new register,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission has explained that it has already initiated processes to effect the court’s ruling.
Addressing a news conference in Accra today [Thursday], a Deputy Chairperson of the EC, Georgina Opoku Amankwa, said although the Commission was yet to get a copy of the full judgment, it already has a programme in place to institute what the court has ordered.
Without revealing a detailed plan, Mrs. Opoku Amankwa said, “the good thing is that, what the Supreme Court is asking the EC to do is something that we have already put in place a programme to deal with. The nitty gritties are yet to be found out in the judgment itself which we are yet to be furnished with.”
The Court asked the EC to expunge from the current register the names of person who registered using the National Health Insurance Scheme card as a proof of identity. It also asked the Commission to re-register such persons using the right procedure.
Generally, the Court ordered the commission to use it’s own mechanisms in consultation with relevant stakeholders to immediately clean the register. Addressing students of the Accra Polytechnic in Accra today [Thursday], Dr. Bawumia said the ruling vindicates the NPP.
“Today, the Supreme Court finally ruled that in fact the voters’ register is not a credible register. We have said this for a long time so we expect the Electoral Commission to very quickly and immediately put together modalities for addressing this issue and removing the names of all the categories specified by the Supreme Court.”
He further charged the EC to ensure that the ruling is fully adhered to. “I think whichever way you look at it, if you are going to do this in a most efficient way, you probably will need a new register,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission has explained that it has already initiated processes to effect the court’s ruling.
Addressing a news conference in Accra today [Thursday], a Deputy Chairperson of the EC, Georgina Opoku Amankwa, said although the Commission was yet to get a copy of the full judgment, it already has a programme in place to institute what the court has ordered.
Without revealing a detailed plan, Mrs. Opoku Amankwa said, “the good thing is that, what the Supreme Court is asking the EC to do is something that we have already put in place a programme to deal with. The nitty gritties are yet to be found out in the judgment itself which we are yet to be furnished with.”
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