Election Petition: Summary of issues and judgement of the 2013 and 2021 Petitions

Ghana first had its maiden election petition in 2012-13 when the then-NPP presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, together with Dr Mahamadu Bawumia and the late Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey filed a petition at the Supreme Court to challenge the declaration of John Dramani Mahama as the president-elect.

The case was filed on December 28, 2012.

The petitioners initially alleged gross and widespread irregularities at 4,709 polling stations, but amended their petition, increasing the pink sheets to indicate irregularities at 11,916 polling stations.

Upon further scrutiny during the hearings, the petitioners reduced the number of pink sheets slightly, and finally relied on 11,138 polling stations as areas where the alleged infractions relating to over-voting, voting without biometric verification, some polling stations with the same serial numbers and some presiding officers failing to sign pink sheets, had occurred.

Per the petitioners’ calculation, Nana Akufo-Addo won the election by 59.69 per cent, while President Mahama polled 39.1 per cent.

They were, therefore, pleading with the court to annul 4.3 million votes at the polling stations where the alleged irregularities occurred.

After eight months of litigation, the Justices of the Supreme Court in a 5-4 majority decision affirmed that John Dramani Mahama was validly elected.

There were respectively, four and three judges who voted consistently against and for the annulment of more than two million votes.

These were votes that the petitioners had described as having been counted despite gross and widespread irregularities recorded during the election.

The bench empanelled by the then Chief Justice Georgina Theodore Wood comprised: Akoto-Bamfo,(Mrs.), W. A. Atuguba, J. DotseS. O. A. Adinyira (Mrs), R. C. Owusu (Ms.), N. S. Gbadegbe, P. Baffoe Bonnie, Anin Yeboah, J. Ansah

They declined to declare the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Akufo-Addo as the validly elected president but held the view that the votes affected by these allegations must be annulled and a rerun held.

Fast forward to 2020, the presidential candidate of the NDC also filed a petition at the Supreme Court to challenge the declaration of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the president-elect.

In their judgement of Thursday, March 4, the Justices of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, who was part of the 2012 panel, were of the view that the petitioner’s team led by Tsatsu Tsikata did not present any data to counter the figures announced by the EC Chairperson on December 9, 2020, as total valid votes.

In the judgement read, citing various authorities, the CJ declared that if the petitioner’s team had presented figures to prove that the New Patriotic Party presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo did not meet the legal threshold, all the reliefs sought would have been granted.

According to the panel, the "fanciful" representatives of the NDC flagbearer in the EC strong room basically neglected their duty of overseeing happenings in the National Collation Centre.

Justice Anin-Yeboah also mentioned that the evidence before the court confirmed that the second respondent, Nana Akufo-Addo, indeed satisfied the more than 50 per cent threshold as per the constitution, with the exclusion or inclusion of the Techiman South results.

In effect, the petitioner failed to provide evidence to show that the NPP candidate did not meet the more than 50 per cent benchmark.