NPP candidate drags EC to court over planned re-run in Ablekuma North

Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Ablekuma North, has taken the Electoral Commission (EC) to court in a bid to halt a planned re-run of parliamentary elections in parts of the constituency.

In a judicial review application filed at the High Court, Afriyie is asking the court to set aside the EC’s decision to hold fresh polls in 19 out of the 281 polling stations in the constituency. 

Her lawyer, Gary Nimako Marfo, argues that the Commission’s move flies in the face of an existing court order.

According to the application, a January 4, 2025 judgment from the High Court had ordered the EC to collate and declare the full results of the parliamentary election, including 62 polling stations that had been left out of the initial collation. 

The EC, the court ruled, had prematurely declared the NDC’s Awurabena Aubynn as winner without accounting for all 281 polling stations.

Although the EC began complying with the order on January 6, it completed collation in only 59 of the 62 pending polling stations, citing disputes over the final three. On July 2, the Commission announced a re-run in 19 polling stations — a decision the NPP candidate strongly opposes.

In her court filing, Afriyie insists the EC has overstepped its legal bounds. She argues that no court has reversed or amended the January 4 ruling, and therefore, the Commission has no lawful basis to call for a re-run.

Afriyie is now seeking three key reliefs: 

A declaration that the EC’s decision violates the court’s order; 

A prohibition restraining the Commission from carrying out the re-run; 

And a mandamus compelling it to fully comply with the January 4 directive.