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The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said it will not recognize the National Steering Committee set up by the Electoral Commission to ensure free, fair and transparent general election come November.

According to the largest opposition party, National Steering Committee is not backed by the constitution and hence will not be party of anything illegal.

The party’s position comes in the wake of the volte face by the EC Saturday where it dismissed reports that the Steering Committee had been suspended.

According to the EC, it only assured stakeholders at Friday’s Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) after persistent calls for the Commission to reconsider the setting up of the Committee, that it would meet and discuss the concerns raised and inform IPAC of its decision later.

At the IPAC meeting, representatives of the various political groupings questioned the EC decision to set up the committee , insisting it was fraught with so many avoidable anomalies.

The various political parties left the meeting with the understanding that the Steering Committee’s work had been put on hold.

However less than twenty four hours after the IPAC meeting the EC in a statement released and signed by its Director of Public Affairs, said its discussion on Friday should not be interpreted as a suspension of the Committee.

“This should not be misconstrued as a suspension of the Committee. The Committee remains in place until a contrary decision is made. The Commission wishes to appeal to the Committee members to stay focused as it takes the necessary steps to address the concerns raised”.

But speaking to Joy News, IPAC member and representative of the NPP, Hon. O.B Amoah stated that the part is surprised at the U-turn of the EC.

“I’m not interested in any interpretation they will want to put on what happened at IPAC.  They pleaded with us that they were going back to the drawing board so we should stop talking about it, we should let it end here and apologized that they should have consulted us and that what is coming out is not good enough so if after a day they come to say that they have not suspended it, it’s their own interpretation”.

He added: “I want to put on record that as far as the NPP is concerned, we do not recognize the National Steering Committee. A steering committee implies being in charge of any matter and I’m saying that the constitution doesn’t recognize any Steering Committee, it recognizes only the Electoral Commission, so if they have not suspended it and they deem it to be in charge of Electoral Commission, then we don’t recognize any Steering Committee”.