[ 2021-02-25 ]

Petitioner’s Case Discloses No Reasonable Cause Of Action - President Nana Addo
Lawyers for President Nana Addo have prayed the
Supreme Court to dismiss the Petitioner's case as
it discloses no reasonable cause of action.

President Nana Addo said "our submission is that
the petition is frivolous and discloses no
reasonable cause of action remains unshaken,
notwithstanding the evidence led in aid of the
Petition.

In fact, the woeful performance of the
Petitioner's witnesses during their respective
cross-examination has further buttressed our
position that the instant Petition with all due
respect, ought not to have proceeded to trial."

In the second respondent's closing address filed
at the Supreme Court, Nana Addo said the election
Petition was one that in all shape and form relate
to an attack on the process for the conduct of the
presidential election itself.

"In the instant matter, it is clear on the face of
the Petition and indeed the evidence of Mr. Asiedu
Nketia in particular that the Petitioner was not
in court to challenge the validity of the election
but the case concerns the performance of the
function 1st respondent (EC) and its Chairperson
pertaining to the declaration of the Presidential
election of December 2020, shows that the petition
is not an election Petition properly so-called."

The second respondent argued that from the
Petitioner's reliefs he did not contest the
propriety of the conduct of the elections hence
his call for another election between him and the
Petitioner.

According to the second respondent even though
from the reliefs of the Petitioner that, no one
had 50 percent of the total number of valid votes
cast in the Election and there seek a " second
election with the Petitioner and the second
respondent as a candidate...", the Petitioner did
not indicate his percentage or number of votes in
the December 7, 2020 polls.

"Not having pleaded these fundamental material
facts and no evidence having been led on same, it
is our humble submission that this Petition does
not qualify to be an election Petition."

Incidentally, the Petitioner has also not
contested any of the EC processes when it's come
to the process of voting, counting of votes, and
declaration of results at polling stations among
others.

The second respondent says that, the instant
Petition belongs to the class of actions that
could be best described as “suits challenging
the declaration" rather than the validity of the
election itself.

“The court is invited to hold that no challenge
of the conduct of the election is stated from
paragraph one to 30 of the Petitioner's
Petition."

Nana Addo held that Article 64 (1) of the
Constitution set out the criteria for the
invocation of the Supreme Court's original
jurisdiction on the conduct of a presidential
election.

"The Supreme Court, therefore, is not, clothed
with jurisdiction to entertain any matter clothed
with apparel of presidential election Petition
when in fact it is not.”

The second respondent said based on evaluation of
facts and the law, in terms of Mr Asiedu Nketia,
one of the Petitioner's witnesses, the Court's
jurisdiction has not been properly invoked.

The second respondent said it was not in dispute
that a summation of the total valid votes
announced by the EC Chairperson, Mrs. Jean Mensa
as having obtained by the 12 candidates yielded a
total of 13,121,111.

"Apart from the fact that this figure is
incontrovertible, Petitioner failed or refused to
provide any contrary evidence that would establish
or least suggest that the valid votes declared for
the 12 candidates were erroneous."

The second respondent argues that apart from
reproducing the figures declared by the EC
Chairperson and making fanciful analogies based on
her innocuous errors, the Petitioner failed to
provide his own data or independently attained
figures to controvert what was declared as the
valid votes obtained by each of the 12
candidates.

Nana Addo therefore prays the court to ignore
allegations of arbitrariness and lack of
transparency in the National Collation Centre,
saying that "these allegations are of little
probative value."

The second respondent noted that the Petitioner
seeks to make a piece meal out of what it
described as "ever-changing figure of the results
of the December 7, Presidential results.

Source - GNA

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