The Chairman of the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Joseph Osei-Owusu, has reiterated that the Ghana Police Service has been granted exclusive jurisdiction over security arrangements for the party’s January 31, 2026, presidential primary.

He stated that no private or unauthorised security arrangements will be permitted at any voting centre on the election day.

This, he said, is to ensure a peaceful and credible election process as the party elects a flagbearer for the 2028 general elections.

Mr Osei-Owusu, a former First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, said this when his committee met with the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Christian Tetteh Yohuno, to provide an update to the Police on the progress of the party's presidential primary.

Update

He said the committee has completed the operational guidelines governing the primary and submitted them to the flagbearer hopefuls, their representatives, the Electoral Commission (EC) and key stakeholders.

“We have met with the flagbearer hopefuls, discussed the roadmap and the operational guidelines, and given them the assurance of fairness and transparency.

We also informed them that the Police is in charge of security and that no aspirant is permitted or allowed to make a private security arrangement,” he said. 

He said the EC will supervise the entire conduct of the primary, including the printing, distribution and monitoring of ballot papers, as well as the enforcement of operational guidelines.

Mr Osei-Owusu, who is also the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Bekwai, said the election would take place in 277 voting centres across the 276 constituencies, and the party’s national headquarters, with 214,812 delegates voting to elect the party’s flagbearerer.

He said the committee has also conducted a nationwide voter album verification and validation exercise, and the flagbearer aspirants have been given two weeks to verify and validate the provisional voter register.

He said the outstanding activities include a meeting with flagbearer aspirants, the EC and police on January 13, 2026, and the signing of a Peace Pact on January 22, 2026.

Police

The IGP, Mr Yohuno, for his part, said the police will ensure full compliance of the operational guidelines, and assured the committee and the party of its readiness to ensure smooth conduct of the election process.

He warned persons who will come to the voting centres not to cause mayhem.