Deputy National Election Director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Rashid Tanko, has strongly criticized the recent High Court ruling that compels the Electoral Commission (EC) to finalize the collation of results in four disputed constituencies.
The court’s decision followed a mandamus application filed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Soeaking to the media after the High Court Ruling Dr. Tanko accused the judge of confusion and suggested the ruling may not have been authored by the judge himself.
“We suspect that this ruling is not coming from his handwriting. The man himself was confused. It took our opponent’s lawyers to even correct him. We suspect collusion,” he said.
He referred to the court proceedings as a “charade” and questioned the accuracy of the evidence presented during the case.
He claimed that misleading information, including stories of individuals allegedly being chased and beaten, influenced the judge’s decision.
“The mandamus application was trying to force an officer to perform a duty he was already executing.
At the time the EC was finalizing the results, there was no duress involved,” he explained, adding that such issues should only be examined in an election petition, not through mandamus.
He criticized the handling of the case, stating that the judge did not distinguish between different matters and cases, leading to confusion in the final ruling.
Tanko alleged that the judge had relied on a single ruling for multiple issues, which he claimed was a failure to read the cases independently.
The court’s decision, issued on January 4, 2025, ordered the EC to finalize the results in the Tema Central, Ablekuma North, Okaikwei Central, and Techiman South constituencies, where there were disputes over parliamentary election results.
The NPP had filed the mandamus application to compel the EC to complete the collation of results in these area
‘We suspect that this ruling is not coming from his handwriting. The man himself was confused. It took our opponent’s lawyers to even correct him. We suspect collusion’ – Dr. Tanko Rashid-Computer reacts to the High Court’s order for the EC to finalize collation in four… pic.twitter.com/uvy7vkWoaO
— CITI FM 97.3 (@Citi973) January 4, 2025
