The Progressive People’s Party has replaced the subscriber, whose endorsement led to the disqualification of the party’s flagbearer Papa Kwesi Nduom.
Richard Aseda, who endorsed Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom in the Central and Volta Regions of Ghana, contrary to the Election Regulation has been replaced by two different subscribers, Joy News Joseph Ackah Blay reported Tuesday.
Lawyer for the PPP Ayikoi Otoo, who disclosed to Joy News the news about the replacement also disclosed that the party has ignored the other errors which were brought to their attention only yesterday by the Commission because those mistakes were not in contention before the Supreme Court.
He stated that even though the EC officials told him that the other mistakes were things they should aver their minds to, as far as he was concerned, it was only one mistake they were to correct and they did just that.
The EC disqualified Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom and 11 others for various infractions on their nomination forms.
For the PPP, the election organising committee indicated that one of the 432 subscribers of Dr Nduom had endorsed the candidate in two separate districts.
By law, a voter can only register and vote in one district and so it was an aberration for Aseda to have endorsed the PPP leader in two different districts.
The PPP despite conceding to the error stated categorically that the error was not basis for disqualification. The party then proceeded to the High Court and secured a ruling in their favour, a ruling that directed the EC to allow the candidate to correct their error.
The EC was also not happy with the ruling and proceeded to the Supreme Court in a bid to have the decision quashed but the EC upheld the earlier decision by the court and directed the EC to allow Nduom and all other disqualified candidates to correct the errors which were brought to their attention.
The court also directed the EC to extend the nomination period by a day to allow all the candidates to correct those infractions.
However the parties were hit with a mountain of new errors found by the EC and which they were to correct before close of nomination on Tuesday November 8, 2016.
The PPP according to Lawyer Ayikoi Otoo had their errors move from one to 105; the PNC’s errors moved from four to 303, whilst that of APC moved from two to 95. The candidates have expressed their displeasure with the conduct of the EC with some of them threatening to go back to the Supreme Court if they are unable to complete their nomination by close of day Tuesday.
Lawyer for the PPP, who led the party’s flagbearer in two successive victories at the court told journalists they have corrected the anomaly which was brought to their attention by the EC on October 10, 2016- the anomaly which formed the basis of their disqualification and the fodder for the court room drama.
He said the 104 other errors brought to their attention only yesterday were not contention before the courts and so they have rectified what came before the Supreme Court.
However Joy News has learnt that despite the posture of Ayikoi Otoo, the party is bent on correcting the mistakes.
Ackah Blay reported that the party’s Director of Communications, Paa Kow Ackon has brought new subscribers to the EC office, in an attempt to correct some of the mistakes raised by the EC in the last hour.
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(Via: NewsGhana)
