Court orders NPP Klottey Korle Parliamentary primary re-run

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is expected to soon hold a re-run of Parliamentary primary for the Klottey Korle constituency, after an Accra High Court on Tuesday dismissed an application filed by the disputed Parliamentary Candidate, Nii Noi Nortey, which sought to set aside a default judgment.

Counsel for the petitioners in the 2012 Presidential petition, Phillip Addison, who was a defeated aspirant in the primary, sued the NPP at the High Court, demanding annulment of the results.

Mr. Addison and another, Nii Adjei Tawiah insisted the election on August 2 which was won by Valentino Nii Noi Nortey was illegal.

According to them, more than half of the delegates were disenfranchised, and that the organization of the election was in violation of the tenets of democratic principles that are supposed to govern the elections.

They also claimed there was no accreditation and that the register that was used was not certified.

The elections they said violated article 55 of the New Patriotic Party’s constitution. consequently they asked the court to declare that the election was an illegality.

The NPP’s late entry of appearance in the case resulted in the court awarding default judgment against the party late last year. But Noi Noi Nortey later filed to join the case and wanted the judgment set aside.

The party however then took steps to settle the matter when the NPP through its counsel Dr Opoku Adusei asked for the impasse to be settled using the parties internal mechanisms. The court subsequently granted the request.

However in an attempt to settle the matter at a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, the party proposed a re-run of the election, which Valentino Nii Noi Nortey strongly objected to, a development which left the party with no option than to wash its hands from the case and allow the court to determine which way to go.

When the case was called today (Tuesday) the Presiding Judge Patience Mills Tetteh in ruling on the matter dismissed Nii Noi Nortey application of setting the judgment aside, paving the way for a re-run of the election which promises to be keenly contested.