President John Mahama is expected to file a response at the Supreme Court by next week to the NPP’s petition brought against him and the Electoral Commission challenging the results 2012 election.
President Mahama is also expected to enter a notice of appearance after he has been served with the writ.
Citi News sources at the castle say the petition has been served on the Chief of Staff.
The New Patriotic Party filed a petition (number J1/6/13) at the Registry of the Supreme Court on December 28th, 2012 contesting the results of the December Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
The three named plaintiffs in the suit are Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Presidential candidate of the NPP in the 2012 elections, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, running mate of the NPP presidential candidate and Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, Chairman of the NPP.
According to Dr Mahamudu Bawumia the irregularities recorded during the elections, and which has fueled their (NPP) interest in pursuing the case were massive and pervasive. According to him, most of them favored the NDC, noting that 24,000 of the pink result sheets from some polling stations indicated that those irregularities were enough to affect the results.
A member of the NDC Legal Team, Abraham Amaliba however explained to Citi News that although his outfit will not be solely responsible for defending the President in court, it will contribute it quota to ensure justice is served.
“Our interest lies in the fact that we will want to see what is in the petition. But as to whether we would be those who would defend the President or go to court on behalf of the President, does not lie in our hands. It is the President that must determine who or which lawyer would have to defend him in court.”
In his opinion, per legal proceedings, “where a person has three days to file a notice of appearance and then ten days to then file his answer, then one can safely say that the President is within time to file his answer.”
Source: Citi News/Ghana
