 has initiated legal action to block the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to rerun parliamentary elections in 19 polling stations within the Ablekuma North Constituency, originally scheduled for Friday, July 11, 2025.){kind=link}
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has initiated legal action to block the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to rerun parliamentary elections in 19 polling stations within the Ablekuma North Constituency, originally scheduled for Friday, July 11, 2025.
Lawyers for the NPP’s parliamentary candidate, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie, filed an application for certiorari at the High Court, seeking to quash what they describe as an unlawful and unreasonable directive by the EC.
In court documents sighted by 3news, lead counsel Gary Nimako Marfo, Esq., argued that the EC’s decision contradicts a prior High Court ruling dated January 4, 2025. That ruling, according to the application, directed the Commission to collate and declare the results of the parliamentary election — a process the NPP claims was ignored.
“The Respondent committed a grave administrative error when it failed to comply with the ruling/order(s) of the High Court,” Nimako stated in the application. He added that the EC acted “in excess of jurisdiction” since no court order had varied or overturned the subsisting judgment permitting the declaration of a winner in the constituency.
The legal team is also requesting an order to prohibit the EC from proceeding with the planned rerun on July 11, describing the Commission’s move as “arbitrary, capricious, and a wrongful exercise of discretionary power.”
The controversy stems from unresolved polling station results following the December 2024 general elections. Initially, the EC indicated that 37 polling stations in the Ablekuma North Constituency were in contention. Following consultations, it announced on July 2 that elections would be rerun in 19 of those stations.
“After extensive deliberations, the Commission informed the Political Parties that it would proceed to rerun the election in 19 out of the 37 polling stations,” said Deputy EC Chair in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey, in a press statement.
However, the NPP sharply disagreed with the decision. Addressing a press conference shortly after the EC’s announcement, NPP General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong declared the party’s firm opposition to the rerun.
“The party thus completely rejects the decision of the Commission to rerun the polling station elections in the said 19 polling stations,” Kodua said, describing the EC’s action as “unlawful, capricious, whimsical, arbitrary, and self-serving.”
He confirmed that the party had instructed its legal team to proceed to court, which has now materialized with the application filed by Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie’s lawyers.
The Ablekuma North seat remains tightly contested, with Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie of the NPP facing off against Ewurabena Aubyn of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The outcome of the pending votes could swing the final result, heightening tensions between the two leading parties.
As the court prepares to hear the matter, attention now shifts to the judiciary, whose ruling will determine whether the July 11 rerun will proceed or be halted in favour of finalizing and declaring the original election results.
The Electoral Commission is yet to publicly respond to the court application.