Former President John Dramani Mahama, who challenged the Electoral Commission’s (EC) declaration of the 2020 presidential election, is set to speak later today about the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision dismissing his case.
At 5:00 p.m., the petitioner will deliver a speech at his office in Cantonments, Accra.
Abrahma Amaliba, one of Mr. Mahama’s spokespersons in the recently concluded case, announced this shortly after the apex court’s decision on Thursday, March 4, 2021.
Unlike the ordinary post-procedure press conferences, he said, today’s address will be delivered directly by the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the elections.
“We just heard the Supreme Court’s decision. Unfortunately, we are unable to speak with you at this time. “However, we will address you through our flagbearer at his office at 5 p.m.,” Amaliba declared.
On Thursday, March 4, 2021, three months after the hearing, the Supreme Court ruled that John Mahama’s petition was without merit.
Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, the panel’s chair, rejected the petition.
The petition
John Mahama was contesting the poll results, claiming that none of the nine presidential candidates met the constitutional requirement of 50 percent plus one vote to be declared the winner.
Mr. Mahama requested five reliefs from the Supreme Court in his petition filed on December 30, 2020.
He requested the Supreme Court, among other items, to declare the EC’s announcement of President Nana Akufo-Addo as the election’s winner unconstitutional, null, and void.
Mr. Mahama’s points were focused on EC declaration errors as well as claims of vote padding.
He also requested that the Supreme Court direct the Electoral Commission (EC) to hold a new election between himself and President Akufo-Addo.
Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, Dr. Michael Kpessa-Whyte, and Rojo Mettle-Nunoo were the petitioner’s witnesses in court, and they were all cross-examined.
Ruling
The Electoral Commission and President Akufo-Addo, the Respondents, urged the Supreme Court to reject the petition.
They said the petition was incompetent, lacking in substance, and raising no legitimate cause of action.
The Supreme Court, on the other hand, found that the appellant had failed to prove his case either through his petition or through his witnesses.
The accounts of Rojo Mettle-Nunoo and Dr. Michael Kpessa-Whyte were immaterial to the event, according to Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah, who read the decision, since the problem in dispute had nothing to do with how the results were collated at the Electoral Commission’s national collation centre, popularly known as the Strongroom.
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SOURCE: ATLFMNEWSONLINE
