Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has emphasized that the party's primary concern is not the missing Biometric Verification Device (BVD) but rather the security breach at the Electoral Commission (EC) premises.

He expressed worry over the ease with which individuals could enter the EC premises and potentially steal such crucial electoral equipment.

Gbande highlighted that the EC, as the election oversight body, must ensure robust security measures to safeguard important electoral materials.

Speaking on JoyFM’s Top Story on April 9, he said “These are very critical questions bordering on the credibility of the Electoral Commission and in their own interest let them go and sleep on it and reflect.

"In fact, knowledge is not in one person’s head... in the interest of the commission's own integrity and credibility that has been put on the line.

"In the first place, we should not have a commission that will fail to protect the machines. We should not have a situation where thieves can enter the warehouse of the Electoral Commission to steal. Knowing how important these machines are, we shouldn’t have gotten there in the first place."

In March, the NDC reported that seven Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) were missing, but the EC clarified that only five were missing and these did not contain voter data. The EC dismissed concerns about its ability to conduct a free and fair election despite the theft of the five laptops.

Dr. Bossman Asare, the Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Corporate Services, reassured that there was no need for alarm as the stolen items did not contain sensitive data. The EC has requested the NDC to provide any information they may have regarding the robbery for proper investigations.

The NDC, however, is hesitant and insists that the EC should have protected the machines better. They are urging the EC to conduct an inventory of the machines to account for them and update the public on the situation.

Mr. Gbande emphasized that the party is not seeking a criminal prosecution but rather seeks to understand how this incident might impact the elections.

“So if you are calling on the NDC to volunteer information who says we are interested in the criminality of it? We are interested in the administration of those machines to the extent that it can jeopardize and compromise the integrity of the exercise. That is what the NDC is talking about,” he added.