Former Attorney-general says the Electoral Commissioner is not a law unto herself adding the Commission is a creation of statute.
Ayikoi Otoo says Charlotte Osei “must be reminded constantly that that false impression that she is an independent body that cannot be directed by the way she performs her duty.”
Speaking barely 24 hours after his victory against the Electoral Commission which got one of the 12 disqualified presidential aspirants to be allowed to make corrections on his nominations papers filed with the EC, he said if she knows that she is a creator of statute then she should listen to the statute and be led by the statutes.
The legal luminary was speaking on JOY FM/MultiTV’s news analysis program Newsfile Saturday said, the EC should know that they are not laws unto themselves so they don’t create avenues for court actions.
He added that it is not necessary for all the disqualified aspirants to line up court actions against the Commission if the Chair had given them an opportunity.
In Dr Nduom’s case, the EC said one of his 432 subscribers, Richard Aseda, endorsed the nomination papers in two separate districts in the Central and Volta Regions.
The businessman argued he was unfairly treated because the error could easily be corrected, but his appeals to the EC Chairperson, Mrs Charlotte Osei to have him correct those errors yielded no results.
He proceeded to court and in the court’s October 28 ruling, presiding judge, Justice Eric Kyei Baffuor instructed the Commission to give Dr Nduom an opportunity to correct the errors on his nomination papers.
According to the judge, the EC did not adhere to their own regulations spelled out in the Constitutional Instrument (CI 94).
He said article 46 is instructive enough regarding the powers of control the EC’s has, quizzing “why should people make them [EC] feel that they are so independent they can do what they like?”
Counsel for the petitioner, Ayikoi Otoo said the EC Chair only demonstrated her inexperience when she disqualified his client.
However, Communications Minister Dr Omane Boamah says the powers of the EC has not been undermined, despite the High Court’s judgement.
In Dr Omane Boamah’s view, the court by its action has only consolidated and classified the powers of the EC.
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