Mahama’s petition complete waste of court’s time – EC as it urges court to dismiss case
The Electoral Commission has urged the Supreme Court to throw out the NDC, Flagbearer John Mahama, election petition as it’s not worthy of attention.
The commission, in its response, said the petition “does not merit a trial and it is a complete waste of the court’s time.”
The legal objections filed by the EC on Friday, January 22, 2021, said among other things that, the petition has not “raised any reasonable cause of action”.
According to the commission, the New Patriotic Party presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo obtained 6,730,413 representing more than 50% of the 13,121,111 valid votes (specifically 51.295%), and not what the petitioners have suggested.
Regarding the alleged vote padding issue, Ghana’s electoral body said the former president’s legal team failed to disclose how the alleged vote padding influenced the outcome of the elections.
It is based on these grounds that the commission is asking the court to dismiss the case.
Meanwhile, the NDC Flagbearer’s legal team has filed for a stay of proceedings on the ongoing election petition hearing.
The petitioners want the apex court to make a determination of some issues, including its interrogatories review, as it is pertinent to discovering if indeed the president was duly elected.
President Akufo-Addo’s legal team is yet to respond to the amended petition and the application for stay of proceedings.
Below is the document to that effect