Tsatsu Tsikata, lead counsel for the petitioner in the ongoing election petition filed by former president John Mahama has described as “irrelevant” questions Justice Yaw Appau asked Johnson Asiedu Nketia regarding his calculation of the 2020 presidential results.
The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who testified as the star witness for Mr. Mahama told the supreme court that he did not have the total valid votes as far as the 2020 Presidential Election.
The witness, testifying at the instance of Mr. Mahama who is challenging the results of December 7, 2020, Presidential Election declared by the Electoral Commission (EC), could also not tell the court what per his calculation, the total valid votes obtained by Mr. Mahama was.
Again the witness could not tell the court what number of valid votes President Akufo-Addo had obtained in the election even though Mr. Mahama had filed the petition challenging that none of the candidates who participated in the election met the threshold of more than 50 percent of the total valid votes to be declared winner as done by the EC on December 9, 2020.
Mr. Asiedu Nketia, answering a question from Justice Appau told the court that “My Lord, I haven’t brought that figure to court.”
Justice Apau then asked, “from your own calculations, what were the valid votes cast in favour of the petitioner (Mr. Mahama), to your knowledge?”
Justice Appau that day, asked Mr. Nketia, “What figures from your own calculations did the second respondent (Nana Akufo-Addo) get as the total valid votes cast in his favour?
But in court on Wednesday, Mr Tsikata who was moving a motion for inspection of document from the EC said that question asked Mr Nketia was irrelevant. According to counsel, the application before the court was premised on the declaration made by the Electoral Commission using different figures and Mr Nketia is not the returning officer of the EC.
In his response, Justice Appau said ” You can keep that to yourself.”
