After the 2024 presidential polls ended, Dr Bawumia conceded defeat only a few hours later, even though not all presidential results had been collated and parliamentary collation in most constituencies had not yet begun.

That premature concession changed the security and political atmosphere overnight. It signalled a transfer of power before the Electoral Commission had completed its constitutional duty, and security agencies, especially the police, became hesitant.

Many officers feared being victimised under a new government if they were seen to be protecting NPP parliamentary candidates.

This created an opening for NDC-aligned groups who attacked parliamentary collation centres across the country. NPP candidates and their agents were assaulted, counting processes were disrupted, and original pink sheets were seized or destroyed. In several constituencies, EC officials abandoned their posts due to fear and intimidation, allowing results that had already been won at the polling station level to be overturned during collation once the NPP lost the protection of state authority.

Even candidates who followed due process and conducted internal collation were overpowered. They arrived at collation centres with scanned copies of results, but because the EC only accepts original pink sheets, many of which had been stolen or switched, valid results were undermined. This was not indiscipline or complacency by NPP candidates. It was a collapse of electoral protection at a decisive moment.

Some argue the early concession was made to preserve national peace. Peace is important, but we must be honest about what followed. Before the concession, the election was largely incident-free. It was after the concession that violence exploded at collation centres. The supposed “peace gesture” emboldened violence rather than preventing it. NPP agents and loyal defenders of the vote were attacked and injured simply for insisting on due process.

That is why seats such as Aowin, Ablekuma North and Dome Kwabenya were lost under hostile conditions. It also explains why the NPP had to fight in court to save Obuasi East, Nsawam Adoagyiri, Tema Central, Ahafo Ano North, Okaikwei Central, Ahafo Ano South West and Techiman South.

In some of these constituencies, EC officials initially declared the NDC winners under chaos. Without legal intervention, those seats would have been lost, too. Even Hon Okoe Boye and Hon Jerry Ahmed have confirmed these events.

This is not an argument against conceding in a democracy. It is about judgment and timing. One premature decision exposed NPP agents to violence and cost the party seats in Parliament. Those who led that decision must reflect deeply on its consequences. We cannot afford to repeat this mistake. Never again must NPP surrender its mandate before the last pink sheet is secured.