68% of voters in NPP strongholds risk being excluded from polls – John Boadu

NPP General Secretary, John Boadu, has dismissed claims by the opposition NDC that it is colluding with the Electoral Commission to rig the 2020 election.

In an interview with theghanareport.com, he said most of the electorate in their strongholds risk being disenfranchised because they are yet to receive the National Identification Authority (NIA) card required to obtain a voter ID card.

If the governing party had a motive to rig, they would have moved promptly to empower voters in their strongholds with the NIA cards, he suggested.

The NPP strongholds are in the Central, Ashanti, Eastern and the Greater Accra Regions.

John Boadu claimed that 68% of Ghanaians living in these areas are yet to receive their NIA cards which they registered for.

Mr Boadu added that 45% of people eligible for Ghana Cards in these areas have also not been registered by the National Identification Authority (NIA).

For him, the current situation puts the NPP in a disadvantaged position.

He, therefore, rebuffed suggestions by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) of plans to collude with the NIA to rig the 2020 polls by disenfranchising voters.

Mr Boadu was speaking after an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting on Tuesday.

He stated: “If you want to talk about connivance with NIA to disenfranchise people, it is we the NPP that will lose a lot.”

He continued: “If we have our strongholds constituting 68% of those who have not yet been issued their cards, who should be complaining? It is the NPP party.”

According to him, “close to 45% of the total people who qualify to be enrolled who are not enrolled come from these regions to the extent that over one million people in the Ashanti Region who are qualified have not been enrolled”.

He concluded: “So any attempt by NIA to do a mop-up without mass registration will not sit well with us”.

The Ghana Card and Ghana passports are the only valid documents permitted by the Electoral Commission for the voter roll registration to be used in the 2020 polls.

Otherwise, an eligible voter may need two Ghanaians to vouch for their citizenship.

The NDC believes hampering registration of people in their strongholds will have a ripple effect on registration for the voter cards, which could result in fewer votes for them on election day.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that the EC should clean the voters’ register by removing names of minors, dead persons and persons who had registered and voted in the 2012 polls with National Health Insurance Cards (NHIS).

The plaintiffs argued the present register was bloated with names of unqualified persons.

The court ruled 5-2 in favour of Deputy Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Abu Ramadan, who had brought the case to the apex court.

The EC has therefore scheduled the end of June to register people eligible for the voter card amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

The EC has also announced measures to ensure the safety of its staff and citizens.