News:
Minority Leader
October 29, 2022
The Minority in parliament led by their Leader, Haruna Iddrisu has demanded the Electoral Commission (EC) and the National Identification Authority (NIA) be summoned before the House to explain and reconcile the discrepancies in the numbers between what the EC has registered as voters and what is on the data of the NIA.
According to the Minority Leader, the EC wants to rely on data from the NIA, and wondered what has become of the EC’s own data that they are abandoning their own bio-data that they have collected and want to use that of the NIA.
Mr. Speaker, there is a discrepancy in the numbers between what the Electoral Commission has registered as voters up to 17 million and what is on the roll of the National Identification Authority. And we hear that the Electoral Commission wants to rely on the National Identification Authority data.
The primary question, Mr. Ahmed Mohammed is asking is, so what has happened to the Electoral Commission’s own biometric data, that today they are avoiding the use of their own bio-data they have collected and they want to collect bio-data from the National Identification Authority”, he queried.
Mr. Iddrisu who speaking on the floor during the Business presentation on Friday, October 29, 2022 for the ensuing week, indicated that the Minority is interested in the reconciliation of the numbers because; “we are very convinced that Article 42 confers the right on Ghanaians to be registered as voters by the Electoral Commission”
“Mr. Speaker, the NIA is unlike the EC which by virtue of Article 45 says that it shall not be subject to the direction and control of any person or authority, the NIA is subject to ministerial control”; he asserted.
He thus served notice that the Minority would not accept any attempt by the Electoral Commission to disenfranchise any Ghanaian, “because they want to rely on an ID card which is not available to Ghanaians; and we mean serious business on this matter. That right, we will jealously protect and safe guard the provisions of Article 42”.
The Minority Leader also demanded that the EC explains why in 2021, 2022, Ghanaians of 18 years were not given the opportunity to be on the electoral roll, stating that it was a denial of their rights under Article 42.
Ghanamps.com