The Electoral Commission (EC) has attributed the delay in completing the collation of parliamentary election results in the Ablekuma North Constituency to the absence of legal advice from the Attorney General’s Department.

Deputy Chairperson of the EC, Dr. Bossman Asare, made the disclosure on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, June 19, during a briefing on the status of the stalled collation process and the Commission’s intended next steps.

He explained that the Commission had taken several steps to complete the process but has been stalled due to the absence of security support, which is dependent on legal clarification from the Attorney General and the Minister for Justice, Dominic Ayine.

“On 28th March, the Commission again wrote to the Ghana Police Service and informed them about the three polling station results which are still outstanding and the need to complete collation. In the same letter, the Commission requested a meeting at the earliest convenience of the security taskforce to agree on a date for the completion of the collation,” Dr. Asare noted.

According to him, at a scheduled meeting on April 10, 2025, the Commission was informed that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) had travelled to Bawku due to a conflict and would be briefed on the issue upon his return. Subsequently, the Commission wrote again to the Election Security Taskforce on May 2, 2025, requesting a meeting on May 8 to deliberate further on the collation.

“At the scheduled meeting on the 8th May 2025, the collation process was scheduled to be completed on 15th May 2025 at the old quarters of the Commission,” he added.

However, just two days before the scheduled date, the Police invited the EC to a meeting on May 13, where they revealed that a case regarding the Ablekuma North Constituency was pending before the Supreme Court. As a result, the Police stated they could not provide security for the EC to complete the collation, arguing that doing so could amount to contempt of court.

In response, the Commission wrote a letter dated May 15, 2025, to the Ghana Police Service and the National Security Taskforce, clarifying that no injunction or legal process was preventing the EC from completing the collation. They also requested protection and proposed a follow-up meeting on May 16 to agree on a new date for the process.

Despite these efforts, the Commission was informed that the matter had been referred to the Attorney General for legal advice. The Police and National Security Taskforce said they would only act upon receiving legal direction from the AG.

“…In the letter, the commission requested a meeting the next day, that is 16th May, to agree on a date for the completion of the election. The National Police Service and the National Security Taskforce in a response informed the commission that the issue of the completion of the collation of the Ablekuma North election has been referred to the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice for legal advice and further stated that because of the referral the National Security Taskforce will hold on until the legal advice is received. Since then, we have followed up with the police, and they have indicated they have not received advice from the AG.”