Police not election petition forum under nation’s laws – Yeboah Dame

The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has contended that the Police is not an election petition forum under the country’s laws.

He said he was surprised by the National Democratic Congress(NDC)’s petition to the Inspector General of Police over alleged excess ballot in the 2020 general election.

Mr Dame described the NDC’s petition as “an attempt to unnecessarily mislead their own members and supporters and to think that former President Mahama performed any better in the elections”.

The NDC has petitioned the Inspector General of Police to investigate what it claimed as the printing of one million extra ballot papers by Innolink Printing Press, one of the companies that printed the ballot paper for the 2020 elections.

Signed by Asiedu Nketia, the General Secretary of the NDC,it claimed that the papers were printed illegally and urged the police to prosecute persons found culpable after the probe.

The petition followed an earlier call on the Police by the Electoral Commission to investigate claims made by former President John Mahama that the Commission thumb printed one million ballot papers to favour President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the 2020 presidential election.

The NDC is praying the Inspector General of Police to probe an alleged illegal printing of excess presidential ballot papers in the 2020 general elections but the police are yet to publicly respond to the two petitions.

Mr Dame noted that he was surprised that almost a year after the loss of that petition at the Supreme Court the party had wildly made the claim of wrong allegation of votes involving more than one million votes.

“I am surprised that almost one year after the loss of that petition at the Supreme Court that they wildly made the claim of wrong allegation of votes involving over one million votes and what is shocking is the forum which they made the allegation.

“Is the Ghana Police Service an election petition forum in Ghana? It is the Supreme Court and they had the opportunity of filing such a claim in the Supreme Court and they could not even prove it,” Mr Dame wondered.

He reiterated his surprise the NDC made such an allegation months after failing to prove their case at the Supreme Court of vote padding in the 2020 elections. -GNA