Asiedu Nketia collapsed Mahama’s case when he affirmed the declaration of EC - Lawyer

Private legal practitioner lawyer David Adu-Tutu Junior has opined that Johnson Asiedu Nketia’s cross-examination and admissions to questions asked him affirmed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the validly elected President in the 2020 presidential election.

Appearing on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, the lawyer said the submissions by Mr. Nketia were not strong enough to warrant any response from the Chairperson, Jean Mensa.

The Apex court on Thursday ruled that Mr. Nketia in his submission stated that there were not in court to challenge the validity of the figures or data presented by the EC and that was why he failed to provide any data to contradict that of the EC.

He asserted that the figures initially collated by the EC Chair contained errors, but the court ruled that the errors, were errors that were corrected and had no material effect on the outcome of the results declared.

The court also ruled that there was no doubt that in providing particulars of the votes cast, the EC Chair announced 13,43,574, when she was referring to the total valid votes cast, which was actually 13, 121, 111.

The court explained in its ruling that the petitioner accepted that the total valid votes cast was 13,121,111 and not the figure 13,434,574 erroneously described by the EC Chairperson on December 9, 2021.

It was also the ruling of the court that there was no legal basis for anyone to contend that a different figure, of 13,434,574, is used as the total valid votes cast in measuring the more than 50% threshold required under Article 63 (3) of the 1992 Constitution.

In responding, lawyer Adu-Tutu Junior said the evidence provided by Mr. Nketiah conceded that the figure representing the total votes cast could not have been used as the basis for measuring the more than 50% threshold required for a candidate to be declared as the elected President.

He said just as ruled, the petitioner failed to provide any credible evidence to support their case and that was why the respondents failed to elect to have their witnesses testify.

The lawyer said if the petitioner had presented figures contrary to that of the EC, then the court would have compelled the EC Chair to testify.

He said Mr. Nketiah failed to tell the court what number of valid votes President Akufo-Addo had obtained in the election even though Mr. Mahama had filed the petition challenging that none of the candidates who participated in the election met the threshold of more than 50 per cent of the total valid votes to be declared the winner as done by the EC on December 9, 2020.

He recounted the questions Justice Yaw Apau asked Mr. Nketia on their figures saying, this was where the responses from Mr. Nketia collapsed the case of the petitioner.