Ghana News Online

The Kpandai Constituency Parliamentary seat remains a seat for the New Patriotic Party as the Supreme Court has, by a 4–1 majority decision, quashed the High Court judgment that annulled the election of Matthew Nyindam.

The Supreme Court’s decision to annul the Tamale High Court’s ruling follows an application filed by the Member of Parliament, Mr Nyindam, seeking to invoke the Supreme Court’s supervisory jurisdiction to set aside the High Court’s ruling on the grounds of jurisdictional error.

In its decision, the Supreme Court upheld his application, effectively restoring his election as Member of Parliament, although Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, who presided over the panel, shared a dissenting view, while Justices Amadu-Omoro Tanko, Yonny Kulendi, Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu, and Henry Kwoffie consented.

The central issue before the Supreme Court was the date on which the Electoral Commission gazetted the results of the 2024 parliamentary election for the Kpandai constituency. Under Ghana’s electoral laws, an election petition must be filed within 21 days of the gazette notification of results, failing which the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

Mr Nyindam’s case was that the Electoral Commission gazetted the results on 24th December 2024, making any petition filed after the 21-day window incompetent. On that basis, he argued that the High Court had no jurisdiction to entertain the petition that ultimately led to the annulment of his election.

The National Democratic Congress, however, contended that the 2024 elections presented a special situation, as the Electoral Commission issued two gazette notices, one on 24th December 2024 and another on 6th January 2025. According to the NDC, the later gazette superseded the earlier one, and the operative date for calculating time should therefore be 6th January 2025. They argued that the petition was properly filed within time and that the High Court acted lawfully.