The Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Haruna Mohammed, has stated that the party did not officially participate in the Ablekuma North parliamentary rerun held on Friday, July 11, 2025, distancing the party from the outcome of the controversial contest.

Mohammed made the remarks following the rerun that led to the declaration of Ewurabena Aubynn of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as the winner — a significant upset in a constituency historically dominated by the NPP.

Speaking in an interview on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue on Saturday, July 12, he noted that the NPP’s decision not to contest the rerun was based on principle, citing concerns about how the Electoral Commission (EC) handled the issues that led to the rerun in the first place.

The NPP had earlier announced a boycott of the rerun following a High Court order for the EC to conduct fresh polls in 19 polling stations. The directive came after months of disputes and missing endorsements on pink sheets from the December 2024 general election.

Despite the party’s official position, its 2024 parliamentary candidate, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie, defied the boycott and re-entered the race, reportedly backed by some grassroots supporters and local party figures.

The rerun saw a tightly contested race between Ewurabena Aubynn and Akua Afriyie, with the NDC candidate securing 34,090 votes to Afriyie’s 33,881.

The election was marred by incidents of violence, including an attack on Nana Akua Afriyie and former Fisheries Minister Hawa Koomson. One police officer was later interdicted for assaulting a journalist covering the chaos.

Ablekuma North: NPP caused Akua Afriyie’s defeat, not EC – Inusah Fiseini