The High Court has set Friday, October 28, 2016 to rule on a suit brought against the Electoral Commission by the flag-bearer of the Progressive People’s Party.

Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom sued the Chairman of the Electoral Commission Mrs. Charlotte Osei and the Electoral Commission as the first and second respondents respectively after he was disqualified from contesting the December 7 presidential election.

After attempts to get the Commission to rescind its decision failed, Dr. Nduom filed an ex-parte motion at the High Court to compel the Electoral Commission to reinstate him as a presidential candidate for the 2016 elections.

Dr. Nduom was one of 13 aspirants whose nominations were rejected by the EC for various reasons. The Electoral Commission had said one of the people who endorsed his candidature allegedly endorsed the forms in two different districts.

The court presided over by Justice Kyei Baffuor granted hearing to the parties on Tuesday October 25, 2015. Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom was in court today with his running mate Brigitte Dzogbenuku and some party officials. Security was tight as hundreds of PPP supporters thronged the court premises to boost the morale of their flag-bearer.

The EC, represented by Thaddeus Sory said Dr. Nduom and his party should have rather petitioned the court instead of seeking a judicial review. He also asserted that documents by Dr. Nduom were not properly filed before the court, something he said was a major technical error rendering their case “incompetent”, 3FM’s Kwakye Afreh Nuamah reported.

But Ayiko Otoo who is the counsel for Dr. Nduom said EC’s position is a clear misunderstanding of the law.

He had also argued that the Constitutional Instrument (C.I94) was emphatic that the returning officer “shall inform” a nominee to make amendments to submitted forms in case of errors. This, he said, was flagrantly flouted by the Electoral Commission’s chairman.

Having heard arguments adduced by both sides, the court set October 28, 2016 to give its judgment.

Meanwhile, Ayikoi Otoo told journalists outside the court that from today’s proceedings it was clear the judgment will go in favour of Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom. The EC boss, he stated, “cannot benefit from her wrong doing”.

But if the judgment does not go the way he predicted, Ayikoi Otoo maintained that “we will go to the Supreme Court”.

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Read also:Ayikoi Otoo leads PPP as Nduom sues EC

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By Isaac Essel |3news.com | Ghana