Hassan Ayariga, the Presidential Candidate of the All People’s Congress (APC), has strongly urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to publicly explain its reasons for disqualifying certain presidential candidates from the 2024 general elections.
In a passionate statement, Ayariga emphasized that the parties and candidates, including his own, who have been cleared to contest, had followed all the required procedures and fully deserved to participate in the election.
His remarks follow criticism from John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who expressed disappointment over the disqualification of Bernard Mornah, the People’s National Convention (PNC) candidate.
Mahama argued that Mornah was a formidable contender and should not have been excluded, especially in comparison to other candidates who were allowed to run.
During an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting, Ayariga also called for increased transparency in the electoral process. He urged the EC to not only make public the reasons for disqualification but also refer such cases to law enforcement for further investigation and possible prosecution.
According to Ayariga, this would serve as a deterrent and uphold the integrity of the election, preventing political parties from engaging in unnecessary legal battles.
“Publish the disqualification reasons for all disqualified parties so they can learn from their mistakes, and no one can make baseless accusations. We cannot allow anyone to question our credibility, not even the party that criticized it, as they themselves are not beyond reproach.
“Moving forward, any party that fails to properly fill out the forms should have its errors published and referred to the police for investigation and prosecution. This will prevent parties from rushing to court and wasting time,” Ayariga stressed.
Mohammed Frimpong, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Party (NDP), shared Ayariga’s views, expressing disappointment with Mahama’s comments, which he felt undermined the legitimacy of parties that had successfully qualified for the election.
“I feel very saddened that a candidate in this election; more particularly, the former president Mahama had to determine for the commission what he termed as a political party’s worthiness. He thinks that out of the 13 political parties that went through with at least their candidates this year, he thinks that some other parties are more worthy than the political parties that have duly gone through the process and have qualified for this election.
“I think by so doing we are unnecessarily stirring sedition out of a whole process that we know. So we want to advise that it is normal that we have big dreams or are obsessed with whatever goal we want to achieve but unfortunately, if it is pushed, you could affect the security and stability of the nation,” he stated.
