Politics

I am not ready to surrender, NDC needs runoff elections— Mahama to Supreme Court

I am not ready to surrender, NDC needs runoff elections— Mahama to Supreme Court

I am not ready to surrender, NDC needs runoff elections— Mahama to Supreme Court

The Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has expressed hope that his petition in Supreme court will clear all forms of doubt from the 2020 presidential election results which was declared by the Electoral Commission (EC).

In an address after filing his petition earlier on Wednesday, he said his motivations were no different from Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who challenged the election results in 2012 after a defeat.

READ ALSO: NDC threatens to boycott Akufo-Addo’s inauguration if Techiman South result is not re-collated

“Understand that it is not because of a desire for power but because of a dedication to principle and a commitment to democracy.”

“I want the removal of doubt. I want for all of us to know that our elections should be free fair and safe and that we do not have to settle for a process that leaves us confused and with more questions than answers,” ex-President Mahama said.

He stressed that in pursuit of democratic principles, surrender was not an option.

“Whenever we decide to take the easiest road, the first step is always surrender and often the thing that we lose is the very thing that we value the most,” Mr Mahama added.

READ MORE: Forensic Audit request can’t be possible without Supreme Court redress—IDEG, CFI tell Mahama 

He noted that ensuring accountability was key to his petition, adding “I want a Ghana where institutions of state can be held to account, where we can stand on principle and demand transparency without the risk of losing our lives.”

President Akufo-Addo won the election with 51.302 per cent of the votes while Mr Mahama followed with 47.7 per cent of the valid votes cast.

However, the NDC refused to accept the results, claiming the elections was flawed and EC declared to subvert the will of the people.

Former President Mahama grievances hinge on the conduct of the polls in the Techiman South Constituency.

The EC declared the winner of the presidential election when the Techiman South Constituency results were pending.

But Mr Mahama in his petition argued that if all the votes of Techiman South Constituency were added to his votes, President Akufo-Addo’s votes would remain at 6,730,413, now yielding 49.625 per cent of the votes, while his would increase to 6,342,907, now yielding 46.768 per cent.

The petition seeks among others, a declaration from the Supreme Court to the effect that, “the purported declaration of the results of the 2020 Presidential Election on December 9, 2020 was unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.”

Mr Mahama has also asked the Supreme Court to compel the EC to conduct a second election with just him and the incumbent as candidates.

Source: www.spotonnews.net

Joyceline Natally Cudjoe

An Entertainment Columnist, Content Writer, Blogger, Novelist, Poet, and a Publicist. For business or story tip off, contact me on +233 24 646 6866 or email: [email protected]
Back to top button