The 12 presidential aspirants who are in a desperate legal tussle to overturn their disqualification by the Electoral Commission have yet another hurdle to cross.
The disqualified candidates, who are now suspects have been issued arrest warrant to appear before the police Criminal Investigative Department by close of day, Friday, 21st October, 2016 or risk being arrested by the police.
They face multiple charges of fraud, voting irregularities and have questions to answer, CID boss, Joseph Benefo Darkwah told Joy FM, Friday.
They have breached Article 53 of the constitution, C. I. 94 of the election regulation, the Criminal Offences Act, among other laws, ASP Darkwa chronicled.
They have been cautioned and we are waiting for them to come. We are using the media to inform them. If they don’t come, we will go and arrest them, the CID boss warned.
Flagbearers of the Progressive People’s Party, Dr Papa Kwesu Nduom, National Democratic Party, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, Independent People’s Party Kofi Apaloo, All Peoples Congress Hassan Ayariga, PNC Edward Mahama are all likely to be prosecuted.
The aspirants were disqualified from contesting the 2016 elections on October 10, 2016 when the Returning Officer, the Electoral Commissioner Charlotte Osei found multiple breaches in the presidential nomination forms submitted by the aspirants .
On the PPP’s forms for instance, one of his subscribers was deemed to have endorsed Dr Nduom in the Central Region as well as the Volta Region, with the same voter identification number but different signatures.
For APC, some of his subscribers were accused of also endorsing the flagbearer of the PNC leader Dr Edward Mahama leading to the disqualification of both flagbearers.
For the NDP, her subscriber was deemed to have registered twice and was ineligible to vote.
All but one of these aspirants have challenged the EC’s decision. Even though they admitted there were clerical and administrative errors on the forms they vehemently insisted those errors were not basis for their disqualification.
They are in court challenging the decision but now have to fight a possible jail term for fraud and other breaches.
Speaking to Joy News’ Francis Abban, the APC and IPP have made overtures to the Police in an attempt to resolve the matter.
APC General Secretary Razak Opoku is on bail after making an appearance for Hassan Ayariga. He said even though he was not charged with any offence he was granted bail with no surety.
“They asked us to write a statement, which I did,” he narrated.
The IPP flagbearer Kofi Apaloo also confirmed being invited but said he went to the police with the persons identified to have committed those administrative breaches to try and find an amicable solution to the problem.
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