December polls will be a mirage - Akpaloo

The December 7 presidential election will not happen because the courts will place an injunction on it, Kofi Akpaloo, flag bearer of the Independent People's Party (IPP), has said.

His comment follows his disqualification by the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana from the race in view of several infractions on his nomination form. Mr Akpaloo, together with twelve others, were disqualified by the election management body, as announced by Mrs Charlotte Osei, Chair of the commission, on Monday October 10.

But a livid Akpaloo has threatened to sue the commission in court because he believed he was unfairly disqualified. Just like him, the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and the All People’s Congress (APC), whose flag bearers Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom and Hassan Ayariga, respectively, are among those who have been disqualified from contesting, have threatened to sue the EC in court.

Speaking in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Tuesday October 11, a day after the disqualification was announced, Mr Akpaloo said: "We will go to court on the matter and place an injunction on the elections. Until the case is heard, nobody can contest in the elections. This election is no joke, she (Mrs Osei) will need to rescind her decision."

He added: "…Do you think if it had been Akufo-Addo (flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party), she could have disqualified him?"

Meanwhile, the Commission has said it will not overturn its decision to disqualify the 13 nominees.

Defending the EC's decision, Deputy Communications Director of the Electoral Commission (EC) Yusif Ayuba told Accra-based Citi FM on Monday, 10 October: "We made it clear that they must make sure that they meet all the requirements in law to be able to qualify to become candidates.

"For the forms that they submitted to the Electoral Commission, we went through it and we realised a number of anomalies. Those who brought the forms early, we notified them to come and pick them and make sure that they do the correction and resubmit them within the stipulated time in law.

"The Electoral Commission did its homework well. We did due diligence to the information that they provided and based on the requirement of law, we disqualified persons who did not meet those requirements."