Members of the 250-strong Ecowas Observer Mission have been deployed across the country's 10 administrative regions to monitor presidential and parliamentary elections.(PHOTO ESSAY: Ghana's Presidential Elections 2012 )

The National Peace Council (NPC) has condemned the press conference by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Saturday evening, at which the party announced that it had secured a first round victory with 51.3 per cent of total votes cast.

Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, Chairman of the NPC, described the NPP's statement as premature and inconsistent with the law, which mandates only the Electoral Commission (EC) to declare elections results.

Prof Asante, who made the statement at a press conference in Accra a few hours after the NPP conference, therefore, called on all political parties to exercise restraint in handling the elections results, stressing that it was the sole responsibility of the EC to declare results.

He urged the media to be circumspect in its duties and not to allow political parties to use their platforms for such declarations, adding that this could undermine the mandate of the EC.