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General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah believes the call by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) for an overhaul of the current voters’ register is a preparatory ground to shift blame in the aftermath of the 2016 general elections.

The opposition party has time and again posited that the electoral register in its current state is incurably flawed and cannot not be relied on for next year's polls.

Reiterating its call for a credible voters register for the 2016 elections, Chief Scribe for the NPP, Kwabena Agyei Agyapong, pointed out in an interview on OkayFM's Ade Akye Abia Morning Show that per the current voter register, the voter population is more than 75% of the total population of the country and observed that it can never be the case. 

Subsequently, he has been canvassing the support of smaller political parties to have the current have voters' register replaced and received positive reactions from the People's National Convention (PNC) and the Convention People's Party (CPP). 

He argues his campaign is in the supreme interest of the country's fledging democracy.

“After the election petition at the Supreme Court, the confidence of the Ghanaian voter in the electoral process has gone down and it is important we all support the Electoral Commission in raising it,” he told Kwame Nkrumah Tikese, host of the programme.

But commenting on the call for a new voter's register on the same platform, General Mosquito as the NDC General Secretary is affectionately called said the opposition NPP has realized it will lose the 2016 elections, and it is thus preparing the grounds for an excuse to hang its defeat on.

Admittedly, he said, though the register used in the 2012 general elections cannot be said to be a perfect document, it is accurate for now. He also strongly pointed out that the use of biometric and verification machines in the 2012 elections were all instigated by the opposition NPP, who expressed satisfaction after a demonstration by the Electoral Commission (EC); prior to the last general elections, and thus wondered why the NPP is still having an axe to grind with the electoral body over the current register. 

“NPP did not consider finding solutions to why it suffered a crushing defeat in the 2012 elections but went about speculating that President Mahama connived with the Electoral Commission to rig the elections....They even said there was a company which turned the election figures in favor of President”, he stated.

“The issue is that NPP is aware that they have already lost the 2016 elections and so they are looking for a scapegoat to base their defeat on to foment mayhem when they eventually lose the elections. That is the agenda of NPP; all that they are demanding for (new voters’ register) is baseless”, he asserted.