Akufo-Addo urges Supreme Court to dismiss ‘incompetent’ Mahama petition
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Electoral Commission has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the suit filed by the NDC Flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, challenging the results of last year’s presidential elections.
In a separate response, the two respondents urged the apex court to dismiss it as it does not measure to the legal criteria and it is devoid of substance.
According to the President, the petition submitted by the NDC Flagbearer is “incompetent, frivolous and vexatious, and discloses no reasonable cause of action in terms of article 64(1) of the constitution.”
“The instant action is a ruse and face-saving gimmick by the petitioner, after the petitioner and many senior members of the NDC party had prematurely claimed outright victory in the election, only to be badly exposed by results of the 1st respondent (EC), corroborated by all media houses of note in the country as well as many independent local and international observers,” Excerpts of the response from the President read.
In the case of the Electoral Commission, in its 10-page response, it explained the fact that there may be a possibility of discrepancies, with regard to mathematical errors during the collation of results, does not mean those errors have any significant effect on the final election results that saw the NPP candidate Nana Akufo-Addo emerging as the winner of the polls.
“There is a possibility of minor discrepancies as a result of computational and mathematical errors made in the course of the collation of the results but these did not have a material effect on the overall results as declared,” the EC indicated.
On claims of vote-padding made by John Mahama in his petition, the commission said nothing of that sort occurred.
According to the EC, thr NDC Flagbearer, in his petition erroneously depended on the total number of votes cast to make his case as being the total number of valid votes cast, an error which was inadvertently mentioned by the EC Chairperson during the declaration of the presidential result but was later corrected in a press release.
The EC also said contrary to suggestions by John Mahama in his petition that the true and final presidential results are unknown, “The full results of the December 7, 2020 Presidential Election was known to the petitioner [Mahama]. The claims in the petition are therefore contrived, have no legal basis and ought to be dismissed.”
The commission maintained that it followed due processes for the conduct of the election and ensured fairness to all candidates.
On December 30, the NDC flagbearer John Mahama petitioned the Supreme Court to declare a run-off in the December 7 presidential elections.
A petition filed by his legal counsel, Tony Lithur, says his client has evidence that no candidate satisfied the constitutional requirement to be declared president.
By law, a candidate must obtain 50% plus one to be declared winner of the presidential elections.
The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, on December 9, last year, declared the incumbent Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo president-elect.
On that day, she said he polled 51.59% of the valid votes cast while his arch rival John Mahama obtained 47.36%.
But rejecting the results, John Mahama maintained they are fictionalised and fraudulent.
A portion of the petitioner’s claim reads;
“The claim that the percentage of votes obtained by 2nd respondent was 51.595% of the total valid votes that she herself distinctively stated to have been 13, 434, 574, was a manifest error as votes cast for 2nd respondent would amount to 50.098% and not the 51.595% erroneously declared,” the petition stated.
After resorting to street protests for days, the party had finally taken its case to the Supreme Court.
The counsel for the petitioner wants the Supreme Court to order an annulment of the December 9 declaration by the EC and an injunction on president Nana Akufo-Addo from holding himself as president-elect.
The petitioner also wants a mandatory injunction directing the EC to organise another presidential election.