A member of the NDC’s Ayawaso East Investigative Committee, Inusah Fuseini, has raised serious legal concerns about calls to annul the party’s parliamentary primary results in the constituency, arguing that the Electoral Commission(EC) conducted and certified the election and not the Party.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Wednesday, the lawyer and former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central stressed that the fundamental issue is not public outrage over alleged misconduct, but whether the National Democratic Congress has the lawful mandate to overturn a result declared credible by the EC.
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According to him, the primary was organised and supervised by the Electoral Commission, which subsequently certified the outcome as credible and fairly conducted. He questioned whether a political party can lawfully invalidate such a declaration when it was not the body that administered the election.
Mr. Fuseini explained that although the committee recommended annulment due to what it described as widespread illegality, it clearly outlined significant legal and procedural obstacles that could complicate such a decision.
The committee, he revealed, reached a firm conclusion that vote-buying and inducement were widespread during the primary and that the practice was not confined to a single candidate. The findings, he noted, pointed to serious breaches of both national laws and the party’s internal standards.
He cited violations of the Political Parties Act, the Representation of the People’s Act (CI 127), the Criminal Code, and provisions of the 1992 Constitution. In addition, he said the conduct undermined the NDC’s code of ethics, values, and guiding principles.
Despite the gravity of the findings, Mr. Fuseini cautioned against responding to alleged wrongdoing with actions that could themselves raise legal concerns. He argued that addressing impunity must not involve steps that risk breaching established legal processes.
From a governance standpoint, he warned that annulling results already certified by the Electoral Commission could undermine the credibility and institutional authority of the Commission.
He also referenced Article 52 of the NDC’s constitution, which permits the National Executive Committee to act in situations not expressly provided for. However, he pointed out that most political party constitutions do not grant explicit powers to annul elections, as disputes are typically resolved through the courts.
In his view, any challenge to an EC-certified election should be pursued through legal channels rather than internal party directives.
Time constraints present another major challenge. Mr. Fuseini disclosed that the committee submitted its report at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, while the Electoral Commission’s timeline required parties to submit their candidates by Wednesday,effectively leaving less than 24 hours to act.
Given these constraints, he suggested that even if the party wished to proceed with annulment, the practical window for doing so was extremely narrow.
Nonetheless, he confirmed that the committee recommended annulment but only after carefully outlining the legal, institutional, and time-related risks involved.
