Electoral Commission: NPP is behind calls for removal of EC Boss - NDC

The NDC has accused the government of being behind the happenings at the Electoral Commission.

The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has blamed the president, Nana Akufo-Addo for recent happenings at the Electoral Commission.

According to the party, it will resist the “blackmail witch-hunting” of the head of the election management body, Charlotte Osei, who was appointed by the former president, John Mahama.

“Stay off intruding into the operations into the activities of the independent EC,” the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said at a press conference organised by the NDC to assess the president’s first six months in office.

He said even though the NDC has been able to tolerate the manner in which the president has sacked almost all old heads in the civil service and replaced them with NPP members, it will not allow that same treatment to be given to the EC Chairperson.

The NDC’s warning to the president comes on the back of a petition filed by some staff of the Commission at the presidency for the removal of Mrs Osei.

READ ALSO: Workers petition Nana Addo to remove Charlotte Osei

Some workers on Wednesday petitioned the president, Nana Akufo-Addo, asking for investigations into allegations of fraud and financial malfeasance against the Chair of the election management body.

They are also demanding her removal over allegations that she terminated a contract with STL and unilaterally renegotiated a contract with a vendor of the EC for $21,999,592 without informing her deputies or other commissioners.

READ ALSO: EC Deputy boss, others asked to proceed on leave over missing Gh¢480,000

The petition, signed by the lawyer for the workers, Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang, described as fraudulent Mrs Osei’s cancellation of a contract between the EC and Superlock Technologies Limited (STL) – a company contracted to supply and manage Biometric Voter Registration machines (BVRs) and the Biometric Voter Devices (BVDs), as well as, coupled with her ordering of the payment of $76,000 to IT firm Dream Oval.

But in a letter written by her lawyers, to the lawyer of the petitioners, the EC chair is demanding the list of the names of workers who had made the claims for her removal.

“Having observed from your letter by virtue of which the petition to the President conveyed; that your client is an amorphous group of people described as “concerned staff of the electoral commission”, our client has instructed us to demand from you, and we hereby so demand the full list of these “concerned staff of the electoral commission” to enable us commence legal action against them for the defamatory statement contained in their petition failure which our client will be constrained to proceed against you alone as defendant in the suit our client intends to commence against them since you are, to all intents and purposes, their agent.

“Our client’s decision to seek remedy in court for the protection of her reputation is without prejudice to article 106 proceeding triggered by you”, the letter stated.

The NDC has accused the government of being behind the happenings at the Electoral Commission. Read Full Story