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The National Chairman of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah has described the Electoral Commission’s directive for aspiring candidates to declare their assets as baseless.
The Electoral Commission (EC) urged all aspirants in a statement on Wednesday, September to declare their assets or lose their eligibility to contest in the December 7 polls: “contents of the statutory declarations seriously, understanding the full legal implications of the admissions made under oath.”
The statement added that “candidates are to take note of the requirement to declare their asset to the Auditor-General in order to meet the eligibility criteria.”
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Commenting on the issue on Accra-based Starr FM, Mr Mornah stated that it is pointless for the EC to demand presidential and parliamentary nominees to declare their assets added that the asset declaration law does not include political aspirants.
According to him, the law explicitly cites public officers and the EC seems “overly excited to impose conditions on actors and participants in our democratic process and in particular in election 2016.”
“The law I know is saying that public officers. The law did not say aspiring public officers and therefore if you are aspiring to a public office, the Electoral Commission say come and declare the asset. What authority is that?” he asked?
He noted that the PNC believes that asset declaration should be done publicly to enhance transparency in the system but was quick to add that the EC is overstepping its boundaries in this matter.
“No subordinate law can overtake any law and therefore the CI is a subordinate law and its content cannot override any law,” he said