Osman Ayariga is Deputy National Organiser of the NDC
The Deputy National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Osman Ayariga, has accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of acting like an extension of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
In an interview on GHOne TV, and monitored by GhanaWeb, on Friday, September 20, 2024, he pointed to the discrepancies the party has identified in the 2024 provisional voters register, such as missing names and wrongful transfers as deliberate actions by the EC to sway the votes in favour of the NPP.
He, therefore, reaffirmed the party's commitment to resist any attempts by the electoral management body to skew the outcome of the 2024 elections.
"That is why we are resisting, and we will continue to resist. If the EC wants to behave as though it is an extension of the NPP, we will treat them like an extension of the NPP. Clearly, that is what they are doing. We will demand an accountability for the register, we shall not retreat, and we shall not surrender," he stated.
He further alleged that more 300,000 registered voters may be disenfranchised in the pending elections due to the discrepancies the party has identified in the register.
"You realise that these discrepancies are just calculated to ensure that a good number of people from our calculations, over 300,000 people to be disenfranchised on the day of election. Some names deleted; some names wrongfully transferred. You have your ID card; your name is in the register but in a wrong location. Your name has not been deleted. You realise that if we ask for the total number of voters, they give us the figure. Let's say it is ten million, the figure we also have is ten million but in that ten million, 300,000 people have been rearranged, they remove you from here and take you there.
"At the end of the day, your name is in the register, but not at the polling station you registered. At the end of the day, you will be disenfranchised. Do you know what it means for 300,000 people to be disenfranchised on the day of voting? That will be enough to sway the election in a certain direction", he stated.
On Tuesday, September 17, 2024, the NDC embarked on a nationwide protest dubbed Enough Is Enough Demo against the Electoral Commission to demand an independent forensic audit of the provisional voter register for the 2024 general elections.
JKB/AE
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