Two NPP Parliamentary candidates file petitions to contest election results in UWR

Two Parliamentary Candidates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Upper West Region have filed petitions at the Wa High Court praying the court to grant them permission to file writs to contest results of the December, 2012 Parliamentary elections in their constituencies.

The two candidates, Mr. Bayon Godfred Tangu and Mr. Issahaku Amidu Chinnia, Wa East and Sissala East NPP Parliamentary candidates respectively, filed the petitions on January 14, 2013 through their Lawyer, Mr. Lwanger S. Bagonluri.

Mr. Ameen Salifu, Member of Parliament (MP) for Wa East Constituency and the Electoral Commission (EC) are first and second respondents respectively to Mr. Tangu’s petition. Madam Sulemana Alijata, MP for Sissala East Constituency and the EC are also the first and second respondents to Mr. Chinnia’s petition.

The two are challenging the results on grounds that there were alleged instances of violations of the statutory provisions and regulations in the conduct of the December, 2012 Parliamentary elections in their respective constituencies.

This, according to them, substantially and materially affected the results of the said election as declared by the second respondent, the EC.

They stated that the EC permitted voting to take place in a number of polling stations throughout the Wa East and Sissala East Constituencies without prior biometric verification by its officials contrary to regulation 30(2) of C.I. 75.

In the case of Wa East, Mr. Tangu alleged that votes from some of the polling stations where voting took place without prior biometric verification were unlawfully taken into account in the declaration of the results of the Parliamentary election in his constituency.

Additionally, Mr. Tangu argued that total valid votes and rejected ballots from all polling stations in the Wa East Constituency exceeded the number of ballot papers issued to voters.

He said in some polling stations, the Presiding Officers did not sign the declaration forms (pink forms) issued by the second respondent (EC) for declaring results of the election, as required by Regulation 36(2) of C.I. 75.

Mr. Tangu said he polled 12,505 votes while Mr. Ameen Salifu polled 12,846 votes to be declared the winner by the EC.

Mr. Tangu therefore contended that if the wrongfully included ballots were deducted, first respondent (Mr. Salifu) would have polled 12,084 and the petitioner (Mr. Tangu) would have polled 12,505 votes to make him the winner of the election instead.

In the Sissala East Constituency, first respondent, Madam Alijata polled 8,987 votes to beat the petitioner, Mr. Chinnia who polled 6,603 votes.

Mr. Chinnia contended that if all irregularities were deducted, Madam Alijata ought to have obtained less than 8,987 votes, while he (the petitioner) ought to have obtained more that 6,603 votes.

Meanwhile, Justice E.K.B. Apenkwa, the Wa High Court Judge, has since granted the petitioners permission to proceed to file their writs to challenge the validity of the election results.