Acting General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu made an unexpected visit to the office of the Electoral Commission (EC) in Accra this morning.
His mission was to seek clarification regarding the commission’s requirement for submission of candidate nomination forms.
The EC in a statement released yesterday, encouraged candidates or persons filing on their behalf to submit the nomination forms early in order to meet the deadline. They also told candidates to attach their tax returns, just two days before the deadline for submission of forms.
Head of Communications at the EC, Eric Kofi Dzakpasu who signed the statement, entreated the candidates to take the contents of the statutory declarations seriously and understand the full legal implications of admissions made under oath.
“Candidates are to take note of the requirement under law to ensure that their tax obligations are met in full or the need to make satisfactory arrangements in respect of tax obligations with the appropriate Authority,” he said.
He reminded them to submit their nomination forms with the requisite filing fees in bankers’ draft, stating that the Commission will not accept cheques or cash.
“Political parties can make bulk payments for their candidates at the head office of the Electoral Commission. Independent parliamentary candidates can only pay filing fees at the constituency level,” Mr Dzakpasu said.
Mr Dzakpasu asked the candidates to also take note of the requirement to declare their assets to the Auditor-General in order to meet the eligibility criteria.
John Boadu said the party which was unconvinced by the requirement to declare assets before filing the forms decided to seek further clarifications from the commission in order to meet the eligibility criteria.
According to the NPP, the notification by the EC on declaration of assets two days to submission will create a challenge given the several processes that applicants have to go through in these few days to declare assets before submission.
Deputy Chairperson in charge of Corporate Services, Georgina Opoku Amankwaa clarified that an applicant need not declare his or her assets fully to satisfy the eligibility criteria.
She added that the law makes room for candidates to simply kick-start the process of declaring their assets and provide evidence to the EC.
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