The Returning Officer for the Ablekuma North Constituency, Vincent Obeng, has announced his decision to discontinue the collation of results in the area.
He informed the Electoral Commission (EC) to find a replacement, citing frustrations encountered during the collation process on January 8, 2025.
Obeng revealed that, out of seven polling stations, results from four had already been collated, leaving just three remaining.
Speaking to Channel One News’ Hanson Agyemang, Obeng explained, “I hope you have all seen what is going on. Yesterday January 7, we were left with 7 polling stations to go. We came today [January 8], and we have been able to do four out of the seven.
“So we’re left with three more. We brought our presiding officers here, two came and they couldn’t authenticate the statement of the poll and the declaration form. One said she couldn’t come, so that is the three now.
“It’s so unfortunate for me to make this statement that I’m done with Ablekuma North. They should find a new Returning Officer to continue their work for them.”
In his response, the Director of Training, EC, Dr Serebour Quaicoe expressed regret over the comment by the Returning Officer.
Chaos erupted at the Greater Accra Regional Office during the resumption of the collation of results for Ablekuma North by the Electoral Commission (EC), sparking heightened tensions.
The incident stemmed from accusations by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the EC was collaborating with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to manipulate election results in the constituency.
The NDC’s Constituency Organiser, Musa Kalamu, alleged that the EC was aiding the NPP in doctoring figures from pink sheets of outstanding polling stations.
The situation occurred after the EC resumed the collation of the results after it temporarily suspended the collation process for the Ablekuma North constituency due to unresolved issues with results from seven outstanding polling stations, on January 6.
This decision comes as the EC sought to verify and authenticate the results from these polling stations before proceeding with the final collation.
Out of the 20 outstanding polling stations before the collation exercise on Monday, January 6, presiding officers have successfully authenticated 13 of the pink sheets submitted by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
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