The Electoral Commission (EC) has said the court injunction restraining it from collecting filing fees from presidential and parliamentary aspirants may have dire consequences on the 2016 polls.
This is because the filing of nominations will not be complete until the fees are paid. As a result, the commission cannot go ahead with the other processes including balloting for positions on the ballot paper and the printing of ballot papers among others until the court case was closed.
“The court injunction has serious implications for the elections,” Mr Eric Dzakpasu, head of Communications at the EC told Graphic Online on Thursday.
He said the commission was waiting for legal advice from its lawyers and can only go ahead and vet the nominations for now. A total of nine presidential aspirants out of the 25 who picked the forms presented their papers to the EC to be considered as candidates on Thursday.
The EC after the vetting of documents will announce which of the aspirants qualifies as candidates. In the meantime, the EC would return the papers of aspirants whose documentations may not be in order, for them to make amendments and re-submit before the 5pm deadline on Friday September 30, 2016. The remaining aspirants also have up to 5pm Friday to submit their nomination forms. The EC on Thursday deferred collecting filing fees from the aspirants as a result of the suit filed by the Progressive People’s Party (PPP). Those who filed their papers were Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Akwasi Addae Odike of United Progressive Party (UPP), Nana Agyenim Boateng of United Front Party (UFP), Hassan Ayariga of All People Congress (APC), Kofi Apaloo of Independent Peoples Party (IPP), John Dramani Mahama of National Democratic Congress (NDC), Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings of National Democratic Party (NDP), Akua Donkor of Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) and Kwabena Agyei of Reform Patriotic Democrats (RPD).
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