General News of Sunday, 30 December 2012

Source: Kevin Lartey

NPP erred in joining Prez Mahama in the suit – Ndebugri

Legal practitioner and member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Ndebugri has strongly rejected his party’s decision to include President John Mahama to its request/suit at the Supreme Court.

Mr Ndebugri insists the action is in clear violation of the 1992 Constitution, stressing that the matter will fall flat in the face of the law.

The former law maker said this on Citi FM in Accra and mentioned several instances to buttress President Mahama’s immunity.

He argued that “the NPP that first tested this provision in the 1992 Constitution in the case of New Patriotic Party against former President Rawlings and it decided in that case the President could not be sued personally.”

The NPP on Friday joined President Mahama and the Electoral Commission (EC) as first and second defendants in the petition filed at the Supreme Court to avert the results of the presidential elections held on December 7 and 8.

President John Mahama, according to the EC, obtained 50.70% against the NPP’s Nana Akufo-Addo, who polled 47.74% of total votes cast.

The party is unhappy with the outcome of the elections and accused the EC and President Mahama of manipulating the electoral figures.

Mr. Ndebugri explained that there was a major error in the Constitutional Instrument (CI) 78 which was being used as a defense by his party in the decision to join the President in the suit.