Following series of petitions and calls from some political parties, civil society groups and a number of Ghanaians for a new voters’ register, the Electoral Commission has assembled a Panel of Eminent Ghanaians to hold a two-day public hearing on the voters’ register.

But even before the panel which consists of His Lordship Professor Crabbe, Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, Dr. Grace Bediako, Dr. Nii Narku Quaynor and Maulvi Bin Salih commences their work, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has challenged the neutrality of some of the panel members.

Shortly after the list was released by the EC, the Ashanti Regional Chairman for the NPP, Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako informed Peacefmonline.com that should his party accept the EC’s invitation to appear before the commission, they would fall on their own sword as far as the call for a new voters’ register is concerned.

Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako alias Chairman 'Wontumi' explained that after examining the panel, he can boldly state that the EC has deliberately set a trap to get the NPP and the other groups calling for a new voters’ register to appear before a panel which supports the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) position on the matter.

He claims Professor Crabbe and Dr. Quaynor would only repeat what President Mahama has told them to say and are "wolves in sheep's clothing."

According to him, the two are like NDC communicators and would simply support the party’s position on the matter.

“The EC has assembled an NDC infected group. We can’t accept to appear before a group that has His Lordship Professor Crabbe as a member. This man supports the NDC’s position. He has said we don’t need a new register but rather, we must clean it just like the NDC has trumpeted,” he said.

“We also know the role Dr. Nii Narku Quaynor a computer scientist played in teaching the NDC how to manipulate the biometric registration in the run-up to the 2012 general elections to their electoral advantage,” he added.

The EC’s Panel is made up of:

a. His Lordship Professor V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe, Co-Chair of the Coalition for Domestic Election Observers, (CODEO), former Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana, former Professor of Law, and former Electoral Commissioner of Ghana;

b. Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana and Chairman of the National Peace Council;

c. Dr. Grace Bediako, a former Government Statistician and former member of the National Development Planning Commission;

d. Dr. Nii Narku Quaynor, a renowned computer scientist, Chairman of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) Board of Directors, and President of the Internet Society of Ghana; and

e. Maulvi Bin Salih, Ameer of the Ahmadiyya Mission of Ghana.