An Accra High Court yesterday granted the motion for abridgment of time in the case in which Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, presidential candidate of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), has sued the Electoral Commission (EC) over his disqualification from the December polls.
He was disqualified over purported acts of negligence and irregularities committed on his nomination forms.
According to the court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, time was of essence and that there was the need to ensure that preparation for the elections was not needlessly stalled by the court proceedings.
Granting the motion, the court ordered both parties to file their statement of case by Monday, October 24, 2016.
Order
The judge further held that on Tuesday, October 24, the lawyers for the parties -Thaddeus Sory for the EC and Ayikoi Otoo for Dr. Nduom – would be in the court for their oral submissions.
Justice Kyei Baffour stated that a date would then be fixed for judgement in the case.
The court also granted the request by Ayikoi Otoo to allow Dr. Nduom – who is not in the country – to file a supplementary affidavit in respect of some portions of the EC’s case.
The court agreed – after an initial attempt to reject the request by the lawyer – that the applicant be send via email, although Dr. Nduom is due to return from his trip later today.
Dr. Nduom, also known as Adwumawua, is among 13 presidential hopefuls disqualified from contesting in the elections by the EC last month.
Dissatisfied with the position of the EC, Nduom, who was the 2008 Convection People’s Party (CPP) presidential candidate, dragged the commission to court to reverse his disqualification from the presidential race.
Reliefs
In the suit filed against the respondents -Charlotte Osei, Chair of the EC and the EC last week, the PPP stated that the commission did not only breach the rules of natural justice in its disqualification of Dr. Nduom, but also failed to act in accordance with due process of law.
Dr. Nduom, among other reliefs, wants the court to direct Mrs. Osei to allow him to amend the mistakes he committed on his forms and to give any orders as it deems fit.
It also seeks for “…a further order directed against the 1st Respondent in her capacity as Returning Officer for presidential elections to grant the Applicant the opportunity to amend and alter the one anomaly found in his nomination papers, as well as accept his nomination papers as amended or altered to enable him contest as a presidential candidate for the 7th December 2016 elections.”
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
jeffdegraft44@yahoo.com