Source: newsthemegh.com
Charles Opoku, the parliamentary candidate for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Assin North by-election scheduled for June 27, 2023, is allegedly being smuggled onto the voter list for the district in order to validate his candidacy, according to the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The party made the claim for the first time on Sunday, but the Electoral Commission and the NPP dismissed it and said nothing of the sort was taking place.
In a following statement on Monday, June 5, 2023, the NDC remained steadfast and accused the NPP and EC of working together to hasten the election of an invalid candidate.
The NDC claimed that Charles Opoku was not a registered voter in the Assin North constituency and that the “good people of Assin North deserve to know the truth.” Opoku is running for parliament on the NPP’s ticket.
It was stated that one must be a registered voter in order to be qualified to run for office as a Member of Parliament, as stated in Article 94 of the Constitution, “which the EC and the NPP have copiously referenced.”
The statement, which was signed by Sammy Gyamfi, national communications officer, stated that “it does not take a legal luminary to understand that the purpose of this constitutional requirement is for a candidate to have a voting right and interest in an election in order to be eligible to contest and be voted for in that election.”
“The NDC is only adhering to the explicit guidelines included in the EC’s own nomination forms and C.I. 127. The largest opposition party declared, “Enough with the NPP’s and its Electoral Commission collaborators’ lies.
After being ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court, Mr. James Gyakye Quayson was elected as the constituency’s MP in the 2020 elections.
According to the court, he had dual citizenship at the time he declared his candidacy.
Dual citizens are not permitted to run for office in Ghana.
NDC’s full statement below:
