NDC New York calls for the removal of newly appointed EC officials

The NDC New York branch has called for the immediate removal of Dr. Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani from the Electoral Commission. Dr. Appiahene and Salima Ahmed Tijani were appointed by president Akufo-Addo to the board of the Electoral Commission.

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and other civil society organizations have called for the removal of Dr. Appiahene because he is an NPP activist who was a patron of the Tertiary Education Student Confederacy Network (TESCON), a university wing of the NPP.

Addressing a press conference in New York on Saturday which was copied to the United Nations and other international bodies and media, the Secretary of NDC New York, Alhaji Baba Suwari called for Dr. Appiahene and Hajia Salima Tijani to resign to protect the public trust in the Electoral commission.

“We first want to take this opportunity to once against condemn the recent political and conflict-of-interest riddled appointments of Dr. Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani as top officials of what is supposed to be a revered and independent Electoral Commission of Ghana. The political appointments made by President Akufo-Addo, and the individuals involved, no doubt reinforces the lingering suspicion that the NPP will stop at nothing to manipulate the outcome of the election in 2024. The appointments compromise the integrity of the electoral commission given the political affiliations of Dr. Appiahene and Hajia Salima and the roles they have played for the NPP in the past and continue to play.

"There is no doubt they are going to do the bidding of the NPP if these appointments are made to stand. As I said, there is already a general suspicion that President Akufo- Addo will stop at nothing than handing over power to another NPP government or president through fair or foul means as he promised some time ago but giving oxygen to this suspicion with these appointments is not only inimical to the integrity of the EC but endanger our fledgling democracy”

“Also, Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani is allegedly a known member of NPP women’s wing in Yendi and daughter of the former NPP Northern Regional first vice Chairperson, who doubles as a current diplomatic appointee of the President. So, how can people with these backgrounds discharge their duties as top officials of the Electoral Commission without biases?”, the press statement reads.

The Electoral Commission is one of the governance institutions provided under the 1992 constitution. It was established by the Electoral Commission Act (Act 451) of 1992 and set up purposely to manage the conduct of all public elections and Referenda, to handle all matters directly related to the conduct of elections in the country.