With eight days to the Ayawaso East Constituency by-election, the Economic Fighters League (Fighters) has issued a blunt call to voters: use the ballot to punish any candidate implicated in vote buying, and send the National Democratic Congress a message that money cannot purchase democratic legitimacy.In a statement released on Monday, 23rd February 2026, the group described the 3rd March poll as more than a routine exercise to fill a vacant parliamentary seat. It framed it, instead, as a test of Ghana’s democratic character.“This by-election is not merely about filling a vacant seat. It is a moral test. A final opportunity for the people of Ayawaso East, in whom actual power resides, to administer justice by punishing all candidates allegedly complicit in vote buying,” the group said.“It is a referendum on whether our democracy will continue to be auctioned to the highest bidder or reclaimed by the people,” it added.The Economic Fighters League’s intervention comes in the wake of one of the most widely condemned episodes of vote buying in recent Ghanaian electoral history.During the NDC’s internal parliamentary primary held on Saturday, 7th February 2026, at the Nima Cluster of Schools, viral videos circulated on social media showing Mohammed Baba Jamal Ahmed distributing 32-inch television sets and eggs to delegates. Baba Jamal, the former Ghana High Commissioner to Nigeria, subsequently acknowledged giving away the goodies, describing them as personal gifts.Baba Jamal won the primary, defeating Hajia Amina Adam, widow of the late MP Mahama Naser Toure, whose death on 4th January 2026 created the vacancy. Pre-primary polling by Global InfoAnalytics had shown Hajia Adam commanding 58 per cent delegate support, with Baba Jamal at 32 per cent.The outcome prompted an immediate wave of institutional responses. Election Watch Ghana, in a statement on 9th February, noted that while Section 33 of the Representation of the People Law, 1992, prohibits vote buying in general elections, the law does not explicitly cover internal party primaries, creating a loophole that the incident had exposed in stark terms.The NDC moved swiftly to constitute a three-member internal probe committee, chaired by former Information Minister Kofi Totobi Quakyi. President John Mahama recalled Baba Jamal from his High Commissioner post in Abuja following the controversy.Civil society organisation Democracy Hub escalated the matter further on 16th February by filing a suit at the High Court of Ghana seeking to disqualify culpable persons. The suit names the NDC as the first defendant, the Electoral Commission as the second and the Attorney-General as the third. Democracy Hub is asking the court to quash the Electoral Commission’s recognition of Baba Jamal as the NDC’s parliamentary candidate and to restrain the Commission from accepting his nomination until a fresh primary is held. It argues that the February 7th primary violated Article 55(5) of the 1992 Constitution and Section 9 of the Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574).The Economic Fighters League’s DemandAgainst this backdrop, the Economic Fighters League has taken the most direct step yet, calling on voters not to reward the NDC candidate at the polls.“We therefore call on the good people of Ayawaso East to reject vote buying in all its forms. Reject inducements. Reject envelopes. Reject the politics of temporary relief and permanent neglect,” the group said.“Specifically, we urge constituents not to reward the candidate of the National Democratic Congress in this contest. A decisive message must be sent that money cannot substitute for accountability, vision, and principled leadership,” it stated.The group urged voters to support any of the other candidates on the ballot who, in its assessment, stand on integrity rather than inducement.“Let this by-election mark the beginning of political maturity. Vote for any other candidate who stands on integrity rather than inducement. Let Ayawaso East demonstrate that dignity is not for sale,” it said.Five candidates are contesting the by-election. Baba Jamal Mohammed Ahmed of the NDC occupies the top ballot position, followed by Ibrahim Iddrisu of the Liberal Party of Ghana, Baba Ali Yussif of the NPP, and independent candidates Mohammed Umar Sanda and David Kanor.A Constituency Under the MicroscopeAyawaso East is an NDC stronghold in the Greater Accra Region, encompassing the densely populated communities of Nima, Maamobi and parts of Accra New Town, all of which have historically delivered significant NDC majorities. That background makes the by-election both high-stakes for the ruling party and, in the view of civil society, an opportunity to reset expectations about what is acceptable in Ghanaian electoral politics.The Economic Fighters League framed its appeal in terms that go beyond the immediate contest. “For too long, #MoneyBasedPolitics has reduced our communities to marketplaces where conscience is traded for cash, and poverty is weaponised during elections. The cycle is familiar: money flows before voting day, silence follows after victory, and the people remain abandoned,” it said.“The future of our democracy depends not on the size of campaign budgets, but on the courage of citizens,” it concluded.The Electoral Commission has confirmed that the by-election will proceed on Tuesday, 3rd March 2026. The High Court suit filed by Democracy Hub is yet to be determined.