The Returning Officer for the Ablekuma North Constituency, Vincent Obeng, has announced his resignation from overseeing the collation of election results in the area, citing frustrations during the process on January 8, 2025.
Obeng informed the Electoral Commission (EC) that a replacement should be found to continue the work. He revealed that, out of seven polling stations, results from four had already been processed, leaving just three remaining.
In an interview, Obeng explained: “I hope you are all seeing what is happening. Yesterday, January 7, we had seven polling stations left. Today, January 8, we’ve managed to complete four of them. So, we’re left with three more. We brought the presiding officers here, but two of them couldn’t authenticate the statement of the poll and the declaration form. One officer even said she couldn’t make it. So now we’re down to three.”
He continued, “It’s unfortunate for me to make this announcement, but I am done with Ablekuma North. They should find a new Returning Officer to take over the process.”
In response, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, the Director of Training at the Electoral Commission, expressed regret over Obeng’s decision to step down.
The situation took a dramatic turn at the Greater Accra Regional Office when the EC resumed the collation of results for Ablekuma North, triggering heightened tensions. The incident was sparked by accusations from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which alleged that the EC was colluding with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to manipulate the election results in the constituency.
Musa Kalamu, the NDC’s Constituency Organiser for Ablekuma North, accused the EC of assisting the NPP in altering figures from pink sheets submitted for the remaining polling stations.
The controversy arose after the EC had temporarily halted the collation process on January 6, 2025, due to discrepancies with the results from seven outstanding polling stations. The commission had decided to verify and authenticate the figures from these stations before continuing the final count.
At the time of the suspension, 20 polling stations had outstanding results, with presiding officers having successfully authenticated the pink sheets from 13 of those stations, most of which had been submitted by the NPP.
As the situation develops, the resignation of the Returning Officer and the ongoing tension at the EC office have further complicated the finalization of the election results in Ablekuma North.
