The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has criticized the decision by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to investigate the alleged food-sharing incident in the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency.

According to the Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Mustapha Gbande, the OSP probing this issue will cause unnecessary delays.

The OSP recently announced its investigation into the alleged incident at the Legon Police Station polling center, where it is alleged that the Member of Parliament for the area, Lydia Alhassan, distributed meals to voters during the special voting exercise on Monday, December 2, 2024. This act is suspected to have been an attempt to influence voters.

John Dumelo, the NDC parliamentary candidate for Ayawaso West Wuogon, condemned the act as illegal and contrary to the Electoral Commission's (EC) regulations. Expressing his dissatisfaction, he stated that such actions undermine the fairness of the electoral process.

Dumelo added that if he wanted, he could engage in similar actions on a larger scale but would refrain due to respect for electoral rules.

Speaking on the issue in an interview on Joy FM, as monitored by Ghanaweb, Mustapha Gbande called for the immediate arrest of Lydia Alhassan by the Police, citing assurances from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) regarding maintaining order during the elections.

"This issue is not a matter for the Special Prosecutor; it will delay. NPP is in the news again for the wrong reasons. The reasons are that they are engaged in unethical politicking, including bribing people who are in the queue to vote.

"It is a straight matter that the Police should pick her up. The Police should pick her up from the polling station. That is the assurance the IGP gave us. The IGP said that there will be orderly conduct of the elections.

"Somebody is bribing voters in the eyes of everyone, and we are calling in the Special Prospector. It is like putting a dead body in a room and asking people to sit around and take tea.

"I mean, this is evidence that we all have; we have seen footage. You are asking the Special Prosecutor to investigate what? Where the food was cooked? The food was prepared and brought to voting centres. I am saying that the NPP shared unsolicited momo to service officials. This boils down to trying to corrupt the youth of our country," Gbande stated.