The NPP General Secretary, Justin Frimpong Kodua, has accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of defying a court order and acting in contempt over its decision to conduct a rerun of the Ablekuma North parliamentary election.
According to him, the EC was clearly instructed by the court to collate outstanding polling station results and declare a winner—not to hold a fresh election.
Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews on Tuesday, July 8, Kodua insisted that the party had taken the matter to court and formally cited the EC for contempt.
“That is why we are in court. Do you know the details of our writ?” he asked. “The EC has been cited for contempt of court because the directive from the court is explicit. Go collate and declare. You cannot vary the order of the court.”
Kodua said the Electoral Commission does not have the legal authority to unilaterally decide to organize a rerun, especially when a court order has directed otherwise.
“It does not lie on the EC to conduct elections, and after elections, sit in the office and say that for convenience’s sake, based on their own extensive investigation or knowledge, we are going to do a rerun. That will be a bad precedent for this country,” he warned.
He emphasised that the only lawful recourse available to the EC if it had concerns about the court directive was to return to court for a new order, not to act on its own accord.
“If, in any case, you had legitimate concerns that the directive that the court has given is unenforceable, the only remedy is to go back to the court to get a further directive or a varied directive,” he argued.
Credit: joyonline