No law mandates Mahama to concede to Akufo-Addo - Clement Apaak jabs John Boadu

Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak has clapped back at the general secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, for asking former President John Dramani Mahama to call President Akufo-Addo to concede defeat.

The legislator says the former president cannot be compelled by anyone to concede defeat since no law says so.

Mr. Boadu after the Supreme Court delivered its unanimous decision to dismiss the petition by former President John Dramani Mahama asked him to concede defeat.

He said John Dramani Mahama should, as a sign of statesmanship and fidelity to the rule of law, call President Akufo-Addo to congratulate him for winning the 2020 elections.

“Following the lucid judgment of the Supreme Court, many had expected the petitioner, John Mahama, to emulate the good examples of the petitioner in the 2012 Elections Petition, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who, even though, disagreed with the judgement of the Supreme Court at the time, ACCEPTED the decision and CONGRATULATED the then President, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, in the interest of the nation,” he said in a press release.

“It is not too late for John Mahama to call H.E. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, whose emphatic 2020 election victory has been affirmed by the Supreme Court, to congratulate him. It is on account of this that the NPP is calling on the former President, John Dramani Mahama, to do the needful in the collective interest of our nation”

He added: “Instead, John Mahama would rather hold a press conference to unleash invectives and unprovoked attacks on the judiciary and the election management body much to the chagrin of democratic observers and the generality of the Ghanaian people. The gravamen of his attacks on these two important state institutions was that the Supreme Court had shielded the chairperson of the commission from testifying in court.

“These harsh words and imputations coming from John Mahama, a former President of the Republic still baffles many, particularly because the Supreme Court, as has been explained, has only stuck to the time-tested principle of the common law practice and for that matter, the position of our legal system on civil litigation, that, YOU WIN IN COURT BASED ON THE STRENGTH OF YOUR OWN CASE AND NOT BASED ON THE SUPPOSED WEAKNESSES OF YOUR OPPONENT’S CASE."

Indeed, the nation’s Supreme Court once held that it would be MADNESS to allow a party depend on his opponent in order to prove his case. John Mahama certainly shouldn’t expect the Supreme Court of Ghana to do what it clearly said would amount to madness. It would also be recalled that John Mahama stated in 2013 that, “The Courts cannot give you what the people have not given you”. We agreed with him then, and we still do agree with him today on this profound statement.”

Reacting to this, Dr. Clement Apaak said the NPP cannot mount pressure on the former president to concede defeat.

According to him, Mr. Mahama would do what he believes was right.

“There is no law that states that JM must accept the court’s rulings and congratulate Akufo Addo. JM will do what he believes in and knows is best. So NPP shouldn’t think it can put pressure on him!”

Before the petition was filed by the petitioner, Dr. Apaak maintained that the NDC won both the presidential and parliamentary polls but the will of the people was overturned.

“We, NDC, won both the Presidential and Parliamentary elections. Go to court, they say, we certainly will. And given what we have uncovered, Ghana will again make history as one of the few nations, not just in Africa, where a stolen verdict has been restored.”