The Electoral Commission (EC) today held a closed-door Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting with political parties ahead of the Ayawaso East by-election scheduled for March 3.

The meeting, which took place at the EC’s headquarters, is expected to outline the roadmap towards the polls. JoyNews understands that discussions are centred mainly on preparations for the by-election.

Speaking at the venue, General Secretary of the Ghana Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Ato Dadzie, said the main item on the agenda was the upcoming Ayawaso East by-election.

“It’s about the Ayawaso by-election. That is the only item on the agenda. So I’m sure it’s going to spell out the modalities,” he said.

He noted that today also marks the close of nominations for the contest. “Today is also the close of nominations for the Ayawaso by-election. I don’t know whether there will be any discussions on extension or any other format. The main focus is on the Ayawaso East by-election,” he added.

Mr Dadzie confirmed that the GCPP has decided not to field a candidate in the race. “We have decided not to file a candidate.”

“We’ve looked at our chances in the Ayawaso East by-election. We think it would be a waste of resources to contest the by-election at this point, looking at the circumstances in the constituency,” he said.

Mr Dadzie went further to urge other opposition parties to reconsider entering the race.

“In fact, I would actually urge other political parties at least not to file,” he stated, saying that by-elections are becoming too costly for the country.

“You know, by-elections are becoming increasingly expensive for the country. If you look at the Akwatia by-election…” he said, without going into detail.

When asked if he was suggesting that only the National Democratic Congress (NDC) should contest, he responded that, “As we speak, if you look at the dynamics of Ayawaso East, there is no likelihood, unless there is a case of an independent candidate from the same camp going into the election that could change the dynamics. As we speak, I don’t see that happening.”

However, he clarified that his call was only a suggestion. “I’m not going to stop any political party that feels that they can make significant inroads in the Ayawaso East contest,” he said.

Responding to a question on whether his position was influenced by allegations of vote-buying that reportedly characterised the NDC’s primaries, Mr Dadzie dismissed the claim.

“Not at all. I think that is even now going to ginger a lot of people in the constituency to come out to vote,” he said.

He pointed to the growing attention around a possible NDC candidate, Baba Jamal. “If you look at all the dynamics now, it looks like Baba Jamal’s name has come up strongly again. He’s a very known figure in Ghanaian politics. His name died down a little bit.

"All of a sudden, through whatever means, now everybody is looking for Baba Jamal. That’s increased his popularity going into this election.”

He added that this could make the contest even more competitive. “I think it even makes him a more formidable candidate in this election. But my call is not based on that. My call is based on cost.”

Mr Dadzie said Ghana must rethink how it approaches by-elections. “Over the years, any time there was a by-election, we looked at whether we should have a different way of approaching by-elections instead of every day spending so much money and resources going to a by-election,” he said.

He cited the Tamale Central by-election as an example. “We saw in Tamale Central, where no other political party contested. And I think it saved the people of Ghana a lot of money. So that’s why I’m making this call.”