‘Bad Precedent’: Miracles Aboagye Criticises EC Over Ablekuma North Rerun

Dennis Miracles Aboagye, aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has criticised the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to hold a rerun of parliamentary elections in 19 polling stations in the Ablekuma North Constituency, describing it as a dangerous precedent that threatens the integrity of Ghana’s electoral process.

The Electoral Commission’s decision has sparked criticism and raised concerns among political observers, particularly around how such incidents might be handled in future closely contested constituencies.

While the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has expressed its readiness to contest the rerun, insisting it won the seat on December 7, 2024, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has refused to participate, accusing the Electoral Commission of acting in contempt of court.

Speaking on Channel One TV on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, Miracles Aboagye said the EC’s move could open the floodgates for politically motivated disruptions in future elections.

“What this Ablekuma North scenario is saying is that when you conduct an election in this country and one party feels that they have lost, and that it is not working in their favour, they can besiege the polling station or the collation centre, and tear apart the election materials and there is confusion, they will call for a rerun. You can imagine how the country will become when every party decides to do that moving forward,” he said.

He cautioned that if such actions are rewarded with reruns, it could destabilise future elections, referencing his constituency to make the point.

“Where I come from, Akuapem North is an NPP stronghold; the NDC cannot come there and tell us to conduct a rerun in that constituency. We will choose which constituency we want you to conduct the rerun in.

“You know how we will do that; we will just destroy election materials. When we are done, it will throw the process into confusion, and then we will refer to the precedence, which is that when you succeed in destroying electoral materials. Then you will come and call for a rerun, and it will be done for you.

“This is a bad precedent, and it is not good for all of us. It is not even in the interest of the NDC nor in the interest of the NPP,” he said.

NPP General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong on July 8, also declared that the party would not participate in the rerun. He insisted that the NPP’s candidate, Nana Akua Afriyie, legitimately won the 2024 parliamentary election with a margin of 414 votes.

Justin Kodua accused the EC of attempting to subvert the will of the people.

“The NPP is firm in its stance. Our candidate, Nana Akua Afriyie, won the election based on facts and figures. During our National Executive Committee meeting, we agreed that under no circumstances will we participate in a rerun,” he said.

He further called on the EC to comply with the court’s directive by completing the collation process and declaring Nana Akua Afriyie as the elected Member of Parliament for Ablekuma North.