Editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper and pollster Ben Ephson appears to have his predictions wrong again as he predicted defeats for some candidates in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) primaries.
Mr Ephson prior to the primaries, made some wild predictions which had to do with personalities including Sam George of the Ningo-Prampram constituency, John Dumelo of the Ayawso West Wuogon constituency among others.
He said he would be surprised to see Sam George get the nod to represent the NDC at Ningo Prampram for the 2020 general election.
According to Mr. Ephson, the feud between Sam George and his predecessor ET Mensah would influence the outcome of the polls but that turned out to be false as he won.
“For Ningo-Prampram if he wins, I’ll congratulate him because he’s struggling for his political survival. I’d be very surprised if he wins the primaries. He is good in Parliament and very eloquent but he needs a constituency to be in the house. ET is still hurt about the issue they had and might want to see him loose,†Ephson told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Thursday.
Sam George after the polls pulled 407 votes while his contender, Michael Kwettey, the party’s constituency chairman, polled 400 votes.
Ephson also cast doubt over the chances of actor John Dumelo winning the slot for the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency.
He again said: “If Dumelo wins the seat in Ayawaso West Wuogon, I’d be surprised. If he really wants to be political, he should have participated in the by-electionsâ€.
However, John Dumelo has defied all odds and pulled off a massive victory contrary to what Ephson predicted.
John Dumelo at the end of the polls had 758 and Suzzy Efua Adoboe 99 votes.
Also, Sam George came out victorious in race for the Ningo-Prampram constituency.
John Dumelo (left) and Sam George (right)
Mr Ephson however, got his prediction on the Adentan constituency right as he predicted former Gender minister Nana Oye Lithur would not win the slot.
“Nana Oye and Ramadan in Adenta has caught a lot of attention. There are about four main constituencies that are of interest to many. If Nana Oye Lithur wins I’d be surprised. When she was the Gender Minister, I think she had very bad relations with some of her deputies. Nana Oye going to the mosque to worship and visit just once was an error. She should have visited a couple of timesâ€.
It did happen as Mohammed Adamu Ramadan polled 730 votes to Nana Oye Lithur’s 559 votes.
It would be recalled that the pollster Ben Ephson prior to the 2016 general elections predicted a one-touch victory for President Mahama insisting the NDC Flagbearer was going to garner 52.4% of the total votes cast.
That did not happen as then-candidate Nana Akufo-Addo beat Mahama to a first-round victory.
Ben Ephson later apologized to Ghanaians after several people bashed him for putting out wrong predictions which he normally backs with research.
He said: " I take pride in the work I do and I thank Ghanaians for equaling my opinion polls to the word of God. I’m not God. If I’ve done five polls and I’m wrong in the fifth one, yes I’m wrong. It does not mean that I will not reconsider what we did and readjust"
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