Dr Sam Ankrah demands audit of presidential nomination forms

Dr. Samuel Sarpong Ankrah, leader of the Alternative Force for Action (AFA), has called for an audit of all presidential nomination forms to establish the justification for the disqualification of some presidential aspirants.

Dr. Ankrah, who sought to contest the 2024 presidential elections as an independent candidate, was among 11 aspirants that were disqualified by the Electoral Commission (EC).

The EC said the disqualified aspirants failed to correct the errors identified in their nomination forms within the allotted timeframe.

The Progressive People’s Party and the People’s National Convention have filed lawsuits, praying the court to reinstate their flagbearer in the 2024 presidential race.

In a statement shared with the Ghana News Agency, Dr. Ankrah described his disqualification as “discriminatory” and “premeditated.”

He said the EC disqualified him using “vague criteria” and alleged that the Commission did not communicate to him about the said errors on his forms.

He said he would have corrected the errors “promptly” if the Commission had communicated it to him after filing his nomination forms.

“I just ask the EC to bring any communication or correspondence they sent to us that stated the reason they used in disqualifying us to work on. As we are speaking now, there is no other official communication. We have written to them politely and humbly requesting to see exactly the infractions. As of today, there hasn’t been any response.” Dr. Ankrah said.

He emphasised the need for transparency in the review of nomination forms and cautioned that the failure to make such processes transparent could weaken interest in the political process and undermine democracy.

“Can the EC at any point disqualify Bawumia or Mahama because of such an infraction?” He asked, adding, “We should not underestimate, disrespect, or discriminate against anybody. The law must apply to everybody.”

The EC has already conducted the balloting exercise, with political parties and aspirants who made the list widely marketing their positions as part of their campaign communication strategies.

The Commission is expected to re-exhibit the Provisional Voters’ Register online in the coming days after resolving some errors in the register.

Data provided by the EC indicated that as of Monday, September 30, 2024, the total number of registered voters stood at 18, 772,795, comprising 9,690,173 males, and 9,082,622 females.

The total number of first-time voters stood at 708, 282.