Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Frederick Blay has pointed to the need for the Akufo-Addo administration to invest more in Public Relations (PR) to sell the work of the government. He called on the media to be fair in reporting government achievement to citizens. According to Mr. Blay, if you compare the work the president did, that is not a reflection, we think we should do more PR and the media should do their work. He believes the party will continue with its good development across the country throughout the next NPP administration. However, according to Mr. Blay, even though the NPP won convincingly, they are not extremely excited about the results that they had 51%. Believing that the party could have done better a little better.  “The court has spoken, it is now good work, let Nana continue his work for these 4 years, let’s prepare for 2024, let’s fight covid, let’s make sure development come to this country.” He further extended his call to the members of the NDC to join them build the country together, adding that Ghana is the only country they have  Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

The petitioner in the 2020 Election Petition, John Dramani Mahama, is addressing the media after the Supreme Court of Ghana upheld the election of second respondent, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The apex court by a unanimous decision dismissed the petition brought before it by Mahama who was the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the election. The former president, who was in court today for the verdict, will be making his first comments on the verdict. The 7-member panel led by the Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah ruled that: “The petitioner has not provided any evidence to rebut the evidence created by the presumption CI135, for which his action must fail. “We therefore have no reason to order a re-run as pleaded by the petitioner. We accordingly dismiss the petition as having no merit,” the CJ added as he concluded reading the over two-hour judgement. Watch the livestream of his address below: Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

Former President John Mahama who re-contested the election on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), took the Electoral Commission to court, challenging the validity of the Commission’s 9th December 2020 declaration of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as winner of the poll. Mr. Mahama also contended in his petition that, President Akufo-Addo did not meet the constitutional threshold for election to the high office of president yet was so declared. The Supreme Court’s judgment was supposed to address five issues that were set forth for determination, including the question of whether or not President Akufo-Addo met the constitutional threshold for election to the office of president. The Issues are: A.Whether or not the petition discloses any reasonable cause of action. B. Whether or not based on the data contained in the declaration of the Electoral Commission of President Akufo-Addo as president-elect, no candidate obtained more than 50% of the valid votes casts as required by art.63 3 of the 1992 constitution. C. Whether or not the 2nd respondent still met the Article 63(3) of the 1992 constitution threshold by the exclusion or inclusion of the Techiman South constituency presidential election results.D.Whether or not the declaration by the first respondent dated 9th of December 2020 of the results of the presidential election conducted on the 7th of December 2020 was in violation of Article 63(3) of the 1992 constitution. E. Whether or not the alleged vote padding and other errors complained of by the petitioner affected the outcome of the presidential election results of 2020. Also,the Chief Justice Anim Yeboah made it known that all the stated above issues holds if and only if,  whether or not President Akufo-Addo met the constitutional threshold for election to the office of president. Election Petition: Chief Justice says though the petitioner is not challenging the validity of the whole election organized, he is challenging the results. Election Petition: He (Chief Justice) says the petitioner is seeking an order to set aside C.I 135 and another order for a re-run to be organized. Election Petition: He (Chief Justice) says the petitioner is not challenging the data of the 1st Respondent upon which the declaration was made and therefore did not present any data. Election Petition: He (Anin-Yeboah) says according to the petitioner, the 1st Respondent was not fair to him when they failed to engage his representatives to correct alleged errors identified. Election Petition: Chief Justice, (Anin-Yeboah) moves to the argument by the 1st Respondent. Election Petition: He (Anin-Yeboah) says the EC maintains that although some errors were made it does not affect the declaration. Election Petition: Chief Justice Anin- Yeboah says the 2nd Respondent has described the petition as incompetent. They insist that President Akufo-Addo obtained more than 50% of the votes cast. Election Petition: Chief Justice says the 2nd Respondent has asked for the petition to be dismissed because the petitioner has not challenged the validity of the polls conducted. Election Petition: Chief Justice says based on the information presented, the court set up some issues for determining the case Election Petition: In a civil trial all that the court requires is evidence and proof – Chief Justice, Anin- Yeboah. Election Petition: He (Anin- Yeboah) says the burden of proof was on the petitioner to prove that the declaration of results was flawed. Election Petition: He (Anin-Yeboah) says initially the petitioner called only two witnesses and after that prayed the court to allow him to call a third witness. Chief Justice Anin Yeboah said the respondents disagreed but the court agreed Election Petition: He (Anin-Yeboah) says the testimony of the first witness was emphatic about why the petitioner was in court. Election Petition: Chief Justice says PW1 and PW2 were not under any obligation to leave the strong room and should have ensured that their back up takes over when they were leaving. Election Petition: Chief Justice says a candidate or an agent cannot abandon his post and ask the Supreme Court to rule when he fails to sign documents. Election Petition: He (Chief Justice) says all the attempt by the petitioner to object to this decision including asking to reopen his case were dismissed by the court. Election Petition: He (Anin Yeboah) says the argument that the petitioner had a weak case may not affect the case that there is reasonable cause. Election Petition: Chief Justice says the source of this issue is the error made by the chairperson. He says there is no doubt that the Chairperson made a mistake when announcing the figures. Election Petition: He (Chief Justice) says the apex court is of the option that the Chairperson had a right to correct the mistake when it was noticed. Election Petition: Chief Justice says at the time the petition was filed, the results of the Techiman South Constituency had been added. Election Petition: Chief Justice says by law, the burden of proof rested on the petition and an instrument put in place to regulate how a president is declared in Ghana. Election Petition: He (Chief Justice) says it is their opinion that the error made by the EC Chair and which did not affect the result is insufficient to say there was a violation of Article 63(3) of the 1992 Constitution Election Petition: Errors by the EC Chair cannot take away the valid votes of the people – Chief Justice. Election Petition: He (Chief Justice) says the petitioner also failed to back his claim that the declaration by the EC Chairperson was wrong.   Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

Ghana’s highest court has rejected a challenge to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo victory in the 2020 election. The verdict brings to an end the election petition filed by the NDC 2020 Presidential More soon… Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

Government says it has reached an agreement with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to do everything possible to maintain the stability enjoyed in the country ahead of the pronouncement of the verdict in the ongoing 2020 election petition hearing. According to the President’s representative at the Information Ministry, this was one of the resolutions reached at a high-powered delegation from both sides at a meeting on February 25, 2021. The consultative meeting of 30 participants including top security hierarchy and chaired by Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare was hosted by the National Security Ministry. Former President John Mahama is currently in court seeking to annul the results of the December 7 election over irregularities which he believes saw Nana Akufo-Addo emerge President. After weeks of arguments at the Supreme Court by lawyers for the petitioner and respondents, the apex court is set to deliver judgment on Thursday, March 4, 2021. The statement signed by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah indicated that both parties agreed to trigger measures to prevent their party faithful from fueling chaos after the Supreme Court declaration. “Regarding the on-going election petition, all parties committed to the need to preserve the peace in the aftermath of the verdict by urging their supporters to exercise restraint and desist from any provocative acts that could undermine law and order.” The meeting was generally geared towards reviewing “the security arrangements put in place for the conduct of the elections and expressed divergent concerns about the events that characterized the collation and declaration of the results.” While calling for closure to election-related violence that characterised the 2020 general election through investigation and sanctioning of perpetrators, the gathering further called on the Police Service to “improve upon the policing of election materials in future elections.” “The parties called for thorough investigations into the incidents that marred the peaceful conduct and declaration of the results notably in Odododiodoo, Savlegu, Ablekuma Central, Sefwi Wiawso, and Techiman South constituencies among others.” The March 1 statement further reiterated the “need to continue the political and security dialogue in the best interest of the country.” Also present at the meeting were; the Presidential Advisor on Security, Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Okyere (Rtd), Albert Kan-Dapaah, the President’s Representative at the Ministry of National Security, Ambrose Dery, the President’s Representative at the Ministry of Interior, Freddie Blay and John Boadu, NPP Chairman and General Secretary respectively. The NDC was also represented by Kofi Totobi-Quakyi, former Minister for National Security, Lt Col Larry Gbevlo-Lartey (Rtd), Former National Security Coordinator and Director for Operations, Capt (GN) Baffour Assasie-Gyimah, former Deputy National Security Advisor and Mr. Kofi Attoh, National Vice Chairman. Also, in attendance were the IGP James Oppong-Buanuh and the CDS Rear Admiral Seth Amoama. Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093