The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has reaffirmed its decision to boycott the Electoral Commission’s (EC) planned parliamentary election rerun in 19 polling stations within the Ablekuma North constituency.

The party described the process as a dangerous precedent that undermines electoral integrity.

Speaking on JoyFM’s Top Story on Wednesday, July 9, Deputy General Secretary of the party, Haruna Mohammed, dismissed claims that the NPP is avoiding the rerun because it fears defeat.

“Elections are elections; you can predict to win; you will never predict to lose. Opinions are opinions; everybody is entitled to his or her opinion. I cannot attack their opinion, but I can only prove my point to disagree with their opinion, and I disagree that we would lose – that is why we are not going,” he said.

Mr Mohammed explained that the party’s decision is rooted in principle and consistency.

According to him, the EC’s decision to call for a rerun despite a High Court order for collation and declaration is unjustified and threatens to embolden electoral misconduct.

“We have stated clearly the circumstances and inconsistencies that brought us to this conclusion, and on that basis, we still stand on our principle—not to compromise ourselves for any rerun of an election that we have already won,” he stated.

Responding to concerns that the same electorate will be voting again and the party should have no fear if it is confident of its support, Mr Haruna argued that participating would only legitimise lawlessness.

“It will serve as a bad precedent and open a Pandora’s box. People who believe in hooliganism, who believe in taking the law into their own hands, will perpetuate injustice in the future, anticipating that the Electoral Commission will kowtow to their will.”

Touching on the legal dimension of the matter, the NPP Deputy General Secretary clarified that the party's case in court extends beyond an injunction.

“We didn’t go to court only for an injunction. We went with a substantive matter. The court only said, let the election go on. If the substantive matter is resolved in our favour, there will be remedies. We’ve chosen to pursue the case because justice may drive slowly, but justice will definitely be delivered.”

The EC announced a rerun in the 19 polling stations after security concerns prevented the collation of results in parts of the constituency during the December 2024 parliamentary elections.

The NPP insists that 34 out of the 37 polling stations had already been collated, and the EC must simply complete the collation and declare the results.