In light of the president’s most recent appointments to the Electoral Commission’s Board, Sammy Gyamfi, the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) national communications officer, has urged members of the Council of State to be prudent in advising the president to rescind his decision on the appointment of Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani and Dr. Peter Appiahene.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, the Council needs to respond to the letter the NDC sent asking it to review the selections of Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani and Dr. Peter Appiahene to the EC board.
“What we are asking the Council of State to do is to purge themselves of this constitutional sacrilege and that is what we intend to achieve with the letter we sent to the Council.”
“The Council of State is a very important institution in our democratic system so therefore, in their advice to the president, they should be careful to consider the national interest. We believe in their competence and patriotism, and we will be very happy if, in light of the new evidence we have presented, they advise the president to reverse his decision.”
The NDC’s mouthpiece added that the little confidence left in the Electoral Commission will be eroded should the two members remain on the Board.
“This is hard evidence relative to the party inclination of these two people. They are publicly known NPP hardliners, and they are unredeemably partisan that if we accept them as members of the Electoral Commission, the whole institution will lose the little integrity and credibility it has left. Don’t forget that public confidence in the Electoral Commission is at an all-time low of 10 percent and what we need to do now is what will boost public confidence in government institutions.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, March 20, swore in three new members of the Electoral Commission (EC) governing board. They included Rev. Akua Ofori Boateng, Salima Ahmed Tijani, and Dr Peter Appiahene.
However, the appointments have largely been criticized by some section of the public and civil society organisations including the Coalition for Democratic Election Observers (CODEO) who have called on the president to rescind the appointments due to their affiliation with the ruling NPP.
