Ghana's two leading political parties, the ruling national Democratic Congress (NDC) and main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), said at separate press conferences here Saturday they were on course of winning Friday's presidential and parliamentary elections.

Speaking to the media at the Accra International Press Center, Campaign Coordinator for President John Dramani Mahama, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, expressed confidence the ruling NDC was on course to be re-elected, and so urged their supporters to be law-abiding.

He appealed to party supporters who could not exercise their franchise Friday due to the breakdown of the biometric verification devices (BVDs) to vote on Saturday.

Saturday's voting, the first time in Ghana's history for elections to be extended to the next day, followed a directive by the country's Electoral Commission (EC) to allow affected voters to cast their ballot, meaning the voting will officially end at 5 p.m.

Afriyie-Ankrah, who is also the deputy minister for Local Government and Rural Development, appealed to the EC to take steps to remedy the situation.

Ghana Friday faced challenges posed by the malfunctioning of biometric machines being used for the first time in the country's elections at many polling stations hence the decision of the EC to permit all eligible Ghanaians to cast their votes.

The Campaign Coordinator rejected allegations that the ruling NDC was engaging in falsification of figures in the collation of results.

Meanwhile, Boakye Agyarko, Campaign Manager for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) leader, Nana Ado Dankwa Akufo-Addo, also predicted a first round victory for the party.

"Based on all the data being received, Nana Akufo-Addo is on course to win a first round victory with an incontestable margin. NPP parliamentary candidates are winning seats that we had never won before.

"This is happening across the country and is a clear indication of an NPP victory, which will produce a parliamentary majority as well; the general performance of our parliamentary candidates is exceeding expectation," he stated.

Agyarko said most of their candidates had upset sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) and Ministers of State, which, according to him, was an indication that the party's vision of change and transforming the country had resonated well with voters.

He projected a high voter turnout in the Ashanti Region (Province), a stronghold of the party, to be over 80 percent.

Agyarko thanked Ghanaian voters for their patience and enthusiasm for the free and fair process, and called on the EC and the security services to discharge their duties in a professional manner.

Ghanaians voted on Friday and Saturday to elect a president and 275 legislators for the country's next parliament.

Results from the polls have started trickling in, showing a keen contest mainly between the NDC and the NPP. Joy fm, a private local media, published its provisional results showing Mahama leading the presidential race with 50.31 percent based on the 140 constituencies votes, while Akufo-Addo got 48.27 percent. However, the final result shall be officially declared within 72 hours after polls.