Jean Mensa, EC Boss
The Supreme Court (SC), by a unanimous decision yesterday, suspended the rerun of the Kpandai Constituency parliamentary election pending the determination of an application filed by Matthew Nyindam, challenging the decision of a High Court in Tamale which ordered the rerun.
This, according to the court, is to ensure that the court is not overreached by the rerun pending the application which it said discloses prima facie.
The then New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Kpandai, Matthew Nyindam, on December 1, 2025, filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking to quash the judgment of the Tamale High Court, which annulled his election and ordered a rerun.
The application, filed by his lawyer, Gary Nimako Marfo, is asking the apex court to issue an order of certiorari to strike out the High Court’s November 24, 2025 decision, arguing that the trial court acted without jurisdiction.
Top among the arguments is that the election petition filed by the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) candidate, Daniel Nsala Wakpal, was done outside the 21 days after results of the election had been gazetted as prescribed by law.
The decision by the High Court to order a rerun of the entire election, contrary to what the petitioner asked for, drew wild criticisms, with the Minority in Parliament describing it as not only flawed but “dangerous,” warning that it poses a serious threat to the nation’s constitutional democracy and the sovereignty of voters.
He then followed it with an application for substituted service as they were struggling to serve the motion on the NDC candidate.
While the motions were pending, the Electoral Commission (EC), on December 10, 2025, issued a statement announcing a rerun of the election on December 30, noting that the rerun will be contested only by the three candidates who participated in the original 2024 Parliamentary Election for the Kpandai Constituency.
This restriction, it said, is to ensure the rerun is a direct continuation of the disputed poll, focusing on the same contenders.
Gary Nimako Marfo, while moving his motion for substituted service yesterday, urged the court to take judicial notice of the fact that the Electoral Commission has slated the rerun for December 30.
A five-member panel of the court presided over by Justice Gabriel Pwamang and assisted by Justices Omoro Tanko, Yonny Kulendi, Samuel Asiedu, and Henry Anthony Kwofie, in its decision, ordered the EC to suspend all arrangements for the rerun of the Kpandai parliamentary election, in order not to overreach the court in its determination of the motion for certiorari.
Meanwhile, the court has granted an application by lawyers for Mr. Nyindam to serve the NDC candidate of the constituency, Daniel Nsala Wakpal, through substituted service.
Gary Nimako Marfo, counsel for Matthew Nyindam, told the court that all efforts to serve Mr. Wakpal with the motion for certiorari and motion to suspend the orders of the High Court have proved futile.
“Ever since the judgment was obtained, all attempts to serve him have proved futile. Bailiffs have been prevented from serving him when they went to the house,” he told the court.
He, therefore, urged the court for an order to post the processes on the walls of a facility with a digital address provided by Mr. Wakpal on court documents during the proceedings before the High Court in Tamale.
There was a little drama in the courtroom when MP for Tolon in the Northern Region, Habib Iddrisu, sent Mr. Wakpal GH¢500 through MTN mobile money to confirm that a phone number provided by Mr. Nimako Marfo indeed belonged to the NDC candidate and is active.
The gesture drew wild laughter in the fully-packed Supreme Court, as details of the transaction were shown to a court official who confirmed same.
The panel, after listening to Mr. Marfo, held that there was sufficient justification to make order for substituted service and ordered that the motions be served on Mr. Wakpal through a digital address provided to the court.
The motion papers are also to be posted on the notice board of the High Court in Tamale and that of the District Court in Kpandai.
The applicant is also to serve Mr. Wakpal via WhatsApp through the mobile phone number provided by Mr. Marfo.
The postings are to remain for seven days after which Wakpal would be deemed served.
By Gibril Abdul Razak