The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper has asked former President John Dramani Mahama to challenge the verdict of the 2020 presidential election at the Supreme Court if he disagrees with the outcome.
Abdul Malik Kweku Baako said “this is the only legitimate way to kill the [alleged] mischief which he [Mr Mahama] is complaining about.”
The comment follows various allegations levelled by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) against the Electoral Commission (EC) and the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
According to the NDC, the EC liaised with the NPP to overturn results of the just-ended polls.
READ ALSO:
Presidential Candidate for the party, Mr Mahama, also at a press briefing after the EC declared President Nana Akufo-Addo winner of the presidential race, described the elections as “flawed and fictionalised.”
According to him, data available to his party from across all the 16 regions of Ghana shows that he won the 2020 presidential election and that any other pronouncement by the EC was evidence of manipulation of figures.
On the above basis, Mr Mahama has rejected the outcome of the elections.
However, in response to Mr Mahama’s claims, Mr Baako said that although the NDC’s presidential candidate can resort to various legitimate means to register his displeasure, the best option is to seek the services of the Supreme Court.
“Anything else Mr Mahama does; demonstrations, hunger strike, everything, though legitimate and democratic, they are not a substitute for judicial determination relative to declarations made by the EC,” he said.
He further recalled events from 2012 when President Akufo-Addo petitioned the Supreme Court to challenge the outcome of that year’s election and noted that, “that particular experience informed the improvement and progress the country has made in its election architecture.
“It’s quite an ironic situation that now the tables have turned and President Mahama may have to go to court,” he said.
“Indeed, he was the beneficiary of a similar incident in 2013 during the election petition when he was an incumbent and President Akufo-Addo, Bawumia and others were disputing the election results, and we all saw what happened.
“I wish he does same because, it will improve the democratic dispensation that we have given ourselves since the past years,” he added.
