The Electoral Commission (EC) has finally declared Faustina Elikplim Akurugu of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as the Member of Parliament-elect for the Dome Kwabenya constituency of the Greater Accra Region following the election on December 7.

This comes after the Commission initially declared null and void the results of the election which had declared the NDC Candidate winner based on disputed results from one polling station.

The declaration follows a two-week dispute between the two major parties, the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), over the winner of the contest.

The Dome Kwabenya seat has traditionally been a stronghold of the NPP. Following the dispute over the outstanding result of the Abokobi Women’s Development Center 2 polling station, the EC had initially announced a rerun of that polling centre before the declaration.

However, during a press conference on Tuesday, December 31, the EC made a U-turn, saying there is no need for the rerun.

It went ahead to announce that the NPP candidate, Mike Oquaye Jr, garnered 50,669 votes, while Faustina Akurugu of the NDC secured 50,967 votes, thereby winning the seat and earning the right to represent the constituency in Parliament.

This declaration means the EC will no longer conduct the rerun of the disputed polling station.

It explained that the result for that polling station was captured on a training sheet for the presidential election and that its investigations and calculations confirm that it tallies exactly with what other parties recorded on election day as recorded by the returning officer.

No representative of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was at the venue for Tuesday's declaration of the NDC's candidate as the winner.

It is unclear for now what the party's position would be regarding this u-turn by the EC and the subsequent declaration.

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