The presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the December 2012 general elections, Nana Akufo-Addo, is opposed to the request by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to be joined in a petition challenging the results of the polls.
According to him, the move by the NDC was ‘calculated to delay” the action challenging the 2012 presidential polls in which the President John Dramani Mahama emerged the winner with 50.7 per cent.
The application by the NDC to join the petition challenging the declaration of President Mahama as winner of the December 2012 elections will be heard on Thursday, January 10, 2013.
However, in an application opposing the NDC’s request filed on Saturday, January 5, 2013, Nana Akufo-Addo said the NDC’s application would defeat the object of the new Supreme Court rule which is aimed at securing an expeditious trial in a petition challenging the results of a presidential election.
The Supreme Court rule states that hearing of a petition against a presidential election shall be done on a daily basis, including public holidays.
Rule 69 C (5) of the Supreme Court (Amendment) Rules, 2012 (CI 74) provides in part as follows: “The Court shall sit from day to day, including public holidays” when hearing a presidential election petition.
The NPP is at the Supreme Court contesting the Electoral Commission’s (EC’s) declaration of President Mahama as winner of the 2012 presidential election.
The EC has been joined to the petition, which has Nana Akufo-Addo, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the running mate of the NPP presidential candidate, and Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, the Chairman of the NPP, as plaintiffs.
According to the plaintiffs, irregularities recorded during the elections 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.
Source: Daily Graphic
