The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2024 parliamentary candidate for Ablekuma North, Nana Akua Afriyie, has disclosed that she has apologized to the party leadership for flouting their directive.

The party, ahead of the parliamentary rerun for the Ablekuma North constituency, announced its decision not to participate in the election.

Deputy General Secretary of the party, Haruna Mohammed, explained that contesting in the election will set a dangerous precedent and compromise future elections.

According to him, the decision not to participate in the election is not because the party fears defeat.

“Elections are elections; you can predict to win; you will never predict to lose. Opinions are opinions; everybody is entitled to his or her opinion. I cannot attack their opinion, but I can only prove my point to disagree with their opinion, and I disagree that we would lose – that is why we are not going.

“It will serve as a bad precedent and open a Pandora’s box. People who believe in hooliganism, who believe in taking the law into their own hands, will perpetuate injustice in the future, anticipating that the Electoral Commission will kowtow to their will,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ewurabena Aubynn of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been declared MP-elect for Ablekuma North.

She polled 34,090 votes to beat the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Akua Afriyie, who secured 33,881 votes.

The Electoral Commission (EC) today held a rerun election in 19 polling stations of the Ablekuma North to provide its constituents a representative after the 2024 parliamentary elections.

After the 2024 polls, Ablekuma North remained the only constituency in Ghana without a sitting MP, due to unresolved disagreements over the outcome of the parliamentary vote.

On December 10, 2024, three days after the national polls, the EC declared Ewurabena Aubynn of the NDC the winner of the Ablekuma North parliamentary seat, defeating the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Nana Akua Owusu Afriyieh.

However, the EC later revoked the announcement, revealing that results from 62 of the 281 polling stations had not been included in the initial collation.

Efforts to restart the collation in January 2025 were disrupted by multiple challenges.

These included interruptions due to the submission of unverified pink sheets and a violent intrusion at the collation centre that heightened security concerns.

The Electoral Commission (EC), after extensive deliberations, in July noted that it will hold the rerun election because the 19 scanned polling station results used for the collation, though approved by agents of both political parties, were not verified by the presiding officers responsible for those polling stations.

The EC arrived at this decision after it met with the representatives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Tuesday, July 1.

The NDC now has 184 seats in Parliament with Aubynn's victory, where has the NPP has 87 seats.

In the Fourth Republic, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has won the Ablekuma North parliamentary election seven times, whereas the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has claimed the seat twice.

Violence mars Ablekuma North rerun election

Deputy Minister for Government Communications, Shamima Muslim, has condemned the recent attacks against civilians and journalists during the Ablekuma North election rerun today.

Engaging the media over the matter, she said, "It is completely unwarranted."

"Government itself takes a very serious stance especially on security agencies metting out unwarranted attacks to civilians under any circumstances," she added.

President of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) Albert  Kwabena  Dwumfuor has alsp condemned the attack on journalists during the Ablekuma North rerun election.

At the Odorkor Methodist 1 polling station in the Ablekuma North constituency, some individuals engaged in a fisticuff with the police personnel. Also, a JoyNews journalist was slapped by an unknown individual.

A journalist with GH One Television, Banahene Agyekum, was also slapped by a police officer.

The Ghana Police Service has interdicted one of its officers who was caught on camera slapping a journalist with GH One Television, Banahene Agyekum, during the rerun election at Ablekuma North.

In line with internal disciplinary procedures, he has been referred to the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB) for investigation.

The officer concerned has been withdrawn from the ongoing election duty at Ablekuma North.

The Police have assured the public that a thorough investigation will be conducted into the matter and further updates will be communicated.

It is unknown what exactly transpired between the reporter and a group of police officers that led to him being slapped.

The Police officer's action has been condemned by all, including the mayor of Accra, Michael Kpakpo Allotey, who witnessed the unfortunate incident.

In reaction to this incident, Shamima Muslim commended the police for its swift action to reprimand its officer for such unlawful acts.

"What we are happy about is the swift action that the Ghana Police itself has taken in interdicting the officer in question," she said.

Engaging the media after the assault, Banahene Agyekum expressed distress and pain.

“Yes, (I won’t be able to continue work today) because my right eye is shaking and I don’t know what happened to my forehead. I have to go for a medical checkup,” he stated.

Former Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and Member of Parliament for Ewutu Senya East Constituency, Hawa Koomson, was also assaulted by a group of men at the Ablekuma North rerun election.

Per reports, the former legislator is receiving treatment at a health facility.

Due to the chaos that has erupted, Inspector General of Police Christian Tetteh Yohuno has visited some polling stations in the constituency.