Bernard Mornah
A High Court in Accra yesterday dismissed an application seeking to set aside the decision of the Electoral Commission (EC) which disqualified presidential aspirant of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, from contesting the 2024 presidential election.
The court’s decision affirmed the EC’s disqualification and ended Mr. Mornah’s hopes of appearing on the presidential ballot for the December 7 election.
Mr. Mornah was asking the court to overturn his disqualification by the EC, claiming his right to natural justice had been breached because he was not given an opportunity to correct the alleged errors detected by the EC on his nomination forms.
The court, presided over by Justice Richard Apietu, in his decision held that from the evidence before the court, the EC gave Mr. Mornah an opportunity to correct the errors contained on the nomination forms, but refused or neglected to correct them.
The court also held that Mr. Mornah failed to do due diligence and should have been meticulous with the nomination forms instead of turning round to blame the EC for his disqualification.
Suit
Mr. Mornah had gone to court seeking a declaration that the EC breached his right to natural justice by failing to indicate any specific grounds for his disqualification, and without offering him the opportunity to be heard.
He was also seeking a declaration that the EC failed to comply with the process requirements imposed on them by law when they disqualified him from contesting the December 7 election without furnishing him the exact and particular reasons for his disqualification.
It was his case that the EC acted unreasonably, unfairly, arbitrarily and in patent breach of their duties imposed on them by Articles 23 and 296 of the 1992 Constitution in disqualifying him from contesting the December 7, 2024 presidential election.
He was therefore, seeking an order of the court quashing the decision of the EC disqualifying him from contesting the election and mandamus compelling the EC recognising him as duly nominated for the election.
Defence
The EC, in its defence filed by Justin Amenuvor, contended that it gave Mr. Mornah an opportunity to correct the errors detected, but he failed or neglected to do so and returned the forms on the same day with the same errors as detected earlier.
It also averred that the errors discovered on the nomination forms bothered on criminality, as the same signatures appeared in the names of different persons.
Decision
Justice Apietu, in his decision, held that both parties acknowledged that the EC informed Mr. Mornah about the anomalies; he picked up the nomination forms on September 14 and returned it on same day with the errors, hence he cannot say he was not given an opportunity to be heard.
He said Mr. Mornah was informed about the error, he was given an opportunity to be heard but he failed or neglected to correct the errors, hence he was disqualified for failure to meet the requirements of the law.
The judge said the PNC has contested elections since 1992, giving Mr. Mornah a wealth of experience when it comes to contesting presidential election, hence he should have been meticulous in handling his form.
Justice Apietu also observed that four signatures belonging to four individuals were signed by the same person, indicating that it could not be a coincidence that the same signature belonged to four different persons.
“In my considered view, this is a strong ground for the disqualification of the applicant,” the judge held, while refusing the grant of the application and subsequently dismissed it.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak