The Tamale High Court has affirmed the 2020 election results of the Zabzugu constituency in the northern region which witnessed the Electoral Commission declare the New Patriotic Party candidate, John Bennam Jabaah as the winner.
The court on Friday (January 20, 2023) presided by Justice Daniel Obeng, has accordingly dismissed the election petition which was filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Umar Alhassan.
The court further awarded a cost of GHS20,000 to the Electoral Commission as well as GHS40,000 to Mr. John Bennam Jabaah, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for the Zabzugu constituency.
Meanwhile, Hon Jabaah of the New Patriotic Party secured 17,580 votes representing 54.6 percent to beat the National Democratic Congress Umar Alhassan who had 14,631 representing 45.4 percent.
But the NDC candidate in his petition to the court among others alleged improper collation of the election results.
In a related development, the Tamale High Court has also dismissed the election petition filed by the NPP 2020 Savelugu Parliamentary Candidate, Abdul Samed Gunu challenging the validity of the NDC MP, Mr. Iddrisu Abdulai Jacob.
The Court in it’s judgement on Friday (January 20, 2023) stated that evidence showed there was no over-voting in the 2020 parliamentary election as alleged by the NPP candidate but rather administrative human errors which did not affect the outcome of the results to warrant the Court to annul the results.
The Presidng Judge, Justice Daniel Obeng in his ruling however awarded a cost of GHS40,000 in favour of the 2nd respondent, Abdulai Jacob Iddrisu, the National Democratic Congress(NDC) Member of Parliament for the Savelugu constituency.
The court also awarded a cost of GHS 20,000 in favor of the 1st respondent which is the Electoral Commission.
Background
The NPP MP hopeful Abdul Samed Gunu as the incumbent in the 2020 parliamentary elections polled 19,478 votes against Alhaji Abdulai Jacob Iddris , the NDC candidate securing 19, 577 votes.
The petitioner among other issues claimed that the purported election of the 2nd respondent as Member of Parliament for the Savelugu constituency is invalid, owing to widespread malpractices and irregularities which affected the outcome of the impugned election.
