Per the EC’s rule NDC, NPP did not qualify why favour them and treat PPP meanly - Nduom

An aggrieved Papa Kwesi Nduom is insisting his rights be respected by the Electoral Commission (EC) asserting “there is a selective application of justice.”

According to the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), presidential aspirant, he is aware the CPP presidential aspirant did not meet the deadline time the EC itself set, asking did not the CPP Chairman, appear 2 minutes after the 12 noon deadline saying their banker’s draft was yet to be ready? But the EC went ahead to allow him file after 12 noon.

“Odike [Akwasi Addae Odike of United Progressive Party UPP] has been given special dispensation by the EC to file on October 14 because of litigation so what wrong did the PPP commit to be treated so harshly and unfairly,” Dr. Nduom moaned.

The business magnate who owns over 40 businesses was especially pained the EC was treating the PPP negligently when the party had submitted its nomination papers by 10am before the September 30^th deadline adding the party agents like has been done in the past engaged the commission if there was any problem with the information provided on the form but got no response only to hear that they’ve been disqualified.

“It is known the voters register is bad and so the PPP verified its documents 2 days before submission. Did vigorous checking and when an anomaly was detected endorsers were replaced all in a bid to present a credible nomination paper.”

He posited that under former commissioner Afari Gyan, EC agents went through the nomination papers with the aspirants and when any error was detected, they were given the opportunity to rectify it before deadline date “but now the new EC says nothing to us only to hear announcement of disqualification on Monday and then they vacate their offices even at 4pm when one is seeking answers.”

Dr. Ndoum warned Ghana was not a two party state adding “if the EC can act with impunity, a time will come when Ghana will become a one party state which won’t bode well for us all.”

He said elections was not like a supermarket where you pick and choose which laws to implement on a whim calling for an independent application of the law irrespective of how big you are of who you are “otherwise why contest an election and why vote,” he asked.

“On page 113 of the presidential nomination forms, all of us had to sign an asset declaration form which I did as well as Mahama, Nana Addo and Greenstreet but while I declared my assets, Nana Addo or the NPP stated they won’t while I don’t know about Mahama but they’ve all ben qualified to appear on the ballot whiles the one who complied has been rejected,” the PPP candidate declared.

“All I am saying is that an institution which wants to be strong must apply the law evenly. I am insisting on my rights and will go to any extent within the law to have my rights respected.”

Dr. Ndoum has thus served notice that much as he hates to be a litigant because his major investments are in Ghana and won’t want to be cited as one whose suit led to a postponement of the December 7 polls, the posture of the EC in not seeing the light and putting him on the ballot means he will sue the commission for the court to intervene.

“It cost money to run offices in the constituencies, to cater for the filing fees of presidential parliamentary aspirants especially since the fees have been inflated. It isn’t that I can’t pay but democracy should not be sold to the highest bidder.”

The Groupe Ndoum chairman meanwhile urged all the PPP parliamentary aspirants to not be despondent but soldier on, campaign and secure seats in parliament whether he is on ballot or not.

He observed the powers conferred on the president were to enormous such that a notable PPP representation in parliament will champion a slashing of the powers of the president adding the Minister of Justice ought to be the president’s lawyer while the Prosecutor’s Office and Attorney General must be the people’s lawyer in helping fight corruption.

Dr. Ndoum added he will be in the Ayawaso West Wogon Constituency today while he embarks on a tour of Akatsi, Keta in the Anlo stronghold on Friday.

An endorser of his forms, the EC contends is a double voter who had endorsed his form twice in two different constituencies, a charge the EC says led to a blacklisting of that voter thereby nullifying Ndoum’s papers.

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