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Supreme Court Halts EC Plans for Kpandai Rerun Election
The Supreme Court has ordered the Electoral Commission (EC) to suspend all preparations for a proposed parliamentary rerun election in the Kpandai constituency, pending the final determination of a judicial review application challenging a High Court ruling that annulled the 2024 election results.
The order was made on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, after the apex court found that the applicant, Matthew Nyindam, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate, had established a prima facie case warranting the court’s intervention.
The legal standoff follows a decision by the Tamale High Court on November 24, 2025, which annulled Mr Nyindam’s election after a petition was filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Daniel Nsala Wakpal.
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Following the High Court ruling, the Electoral Commission announced its intention to conduct a rerun election in the constituency, a move that triggered the NPP candidate’s application to the Supreme Court seeking to quash the decision.
Mr Nyindam contends that the High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the petition because it was filed outside the constitutionally mandated 21-day period for challenging parliamentary election results.
According to the applicant, the parliamentary results were gazetted on December 24, 2024, but the petition was filed on January 25, 2025, rendering it statute-barred under Article 99 of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act.
At Tuesday’s hearing, counsel for the applicant, Gary Nimako Marfo, raised concerns that the first interested party, Mr Wakpal, had not been personally served with the judicial review application.
He therefore prayed the court to grant leave for substituted service to ensure that the interested party was properly notified of the proceedings.
After extensive exchanges with counsel, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Pwamang and made up of Justices Kulendi, Tanko, Samuel Asiedu, and Henry Kwofie, granted the application.
The court ordered that service be effected by:
- Posting the processes at Mr Wakpal’s residence in Kpandai;
- Displaying the documents on the notice boards of the Tamale High Court and the District Court in Kpandai; and
- Sending the processes via WhatsApp to a phone number confirmed to belong to the interested party.
The court directed that the documents remain posted for seven days, after which service would be deemed effective.
In a key aspect of its ruling, the Supreme Court also ordered the Electoral Commission, represented in court by Justin Amenuvor, to immediately suspend all arrangements toward the conduct of the proposed rerun election.
The court explained that allowing the EC to proceed with preparations while the legality of the High Court decision is under review could render the judicial process nugatory if the application succeeds.
The suspension effectively preserves the status quo until the substantive issues raised in the judicial review are fully heard and determined.
The matter has been adjourned to January 13, 2026, when the court is expected to continue hearing arguments on whether the High Court acted without jurisdiction in annulling the election.
The Supreme Court’s intervention introduces a fresh layer of legal uncertainty into the Kpandai parliamentary contest and underscores the importance of strict compliance with constitutional timelines governing election petitions.
The outcome of the case is expected to have broader implications for future election disputes, particularly on the consequences of filing petitions outside statutory deadlines and the extent of the EC’s authority to proceed with reruns while judicial challenges are pending.
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