President Mills has directed Government Statistician Dr. Grace Bediako to take her accumulated leave of six months. Joy News sources at the Castle say she has been given the discretion to decide whether she will return after the period. But the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is alleging she is being forced out to pave the way for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to manipulate the last census results. National Chairman of the NPP, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, claims the NDC intends to manipulate the census figures to justify the creation of additional constituencies and districts ahead of this year’s elections. He said it is a “very strange time for this to be done” because the parties are working with the Electoral Commission to decide on the appropriate ways for the demarcation to be done and that government’s decision will directly affect the outcome. He is therefore calling on the Ghanaians to put pressure on the government “to start to do the right thing and stop trying to steal an election”. Meanwhile NDC General Secretary, Johnson Aseidu-Nketia has, for now, declined to comment on the allegations.