Ghanaians are back to the polls today to decide which of Nana Akufo-Addo and Prof John Evans Mills will lead the nation as president to replace outgoing President J.A. Kufuor. President Kufuor has completed two four-year terms allowed by the constitution, but a general election on December 7 failed to produce a winner among eight candidates, occasioning today’s runoff between the two front runners. Nana Addo, from the New Patriotic Party, polled 4,159,439 votes or 49.13 per cent, while Prof Mills of the National Democratic Congress had 4,056,634 or 47.92 per cent of total valid votes cast. Either candidate needed more than 50 per cent on that occasion to emerge winner, however the runoff will be decided by a simple majority of votes. The Electoral Commission has assured that it is all set for the final lap, having distributed voting materials nationwide and posted personnel. The acting Director of Public Affairs, Christian Owusu Parry told Joy FM his outfit was set to roll and called for vigilance on the part of all players to ensure the integrity of the process. There is heightened security however, with national security capos envisaging a more difficult race than the December 7 polls that passed without much incident. Security personnel were on Friday posted to various parts of the nation to oversee the election, while the nation’s borders with Cote D’Ivoire, Togo and Burkina Faso have since Friday been closed. Security personnel are under instructions to deal ruthlessly with trouble makers. These final days to the runoff have seen the airwaves filled with stories of plots to rig the elections, and the accusations have mainly come from the opposition NDC, whose officials say they have been receiving credible intelligence that the governing party may not play the game by the rules. They have told of plots by agents of the ruling party to snatch ballot boxes at polling centres to be replaced by similar boxes already filled with ballots thumb-printed in favour of Nana Addo. The NDC already has objected to the conduct of the early voting exercise held December 23, alleging widespread irregularities particularly in the Ashanti Region, stronghold of the ruling NPP. The NPP has however refuted the allegations and has also leveled its own charges at the NDC, claiming their opponents engaged in infractions during the first round of voting and which prevented its candidate from winning the poll. The two parties have been urging their polling agents and supporters to be extra vigilant throughout the process to ensure nothing untoward deprives them of victory. Several domestic and foreign election observers have deployed around the country to monitor events, and the Electoral Commission expects to announce a winner in 48 hours. Story by Isaac Yeboah