MP secures injunction against declaration of Walewale parliamentary primary result

Gavel

The Tamale High Court on Tuesday granted a motion for an interim injunction filed by Hajia Lariba Zuwera Abudu, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Walewale Constituency in the North East Region to restrain Dr Kabiru Tia Mahama from holding himself as the party’s 2024 parliamentary candidate for the area.

Hajia Lariba Zuwera Abudu is the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection.

The court presided by, Justice Richard Kogyapwah ordered Electoral Commission (EC) not to submit the name of Dr Mahama to the NPP National Office as the candidate elect in the January 27, 2024, parliamentary primaries.

According to the court, the order would hold for 10 days where after the plaintiff or the applicant may come on notice to the defendants.

Counsel of the applicant, Lawyer Sylvester Isang briefing the media after the court proceedings said the electoral irregularities and malpractice was basis for the application.

He stated that they had people who were dead casting their votes and then the agent of the plaintiff called for recount of the ballots because there was an issue of nineteen rejected ballots.

According to him, they had scrutinised those nineteen rejected ballots that would have turned out that his client was the winner of the polls and not Dr Mahama.

According to Mr Isang, someone who was not introduced to the agents as an EC official walked into the voting arena and hand picked six out of the thirteen rejected votes and allegedly distributed it to the valid votes of two of the four contestants and further ordered that the results should be declared without subjecting the remaining of so-called rejected ballots to scrutiny.

He said the court for now granted the application and has injuncted them from holding out Dr Kabiru Mahama Tia as candidate elect in the just ended NPP parliamentary primaries in Walewale Constituency in the North East Region till final outcome of the court.

“The injunction is interim, it is 10 days but you see (ex abundanti cautela), that is out of abundance of caution, we even have an injunction application on notice so that before the 10 days elapsed that one would’ve equally been moved and even with that pending application itself is a restraining order,” he stated.

The Electoral Commission (EC) on Saturday, January 27, 2024 declared Dr Kabiru Tia Mahama as the Walewale NPP PC elect after he had 345 votes against Hajia Lariba Abudu Zuweira of 338 votes.

The other two contenders were Tahiru Sham-unaand Jangdow Mahama had 145 and one votes respectively.

The MP, the incumbent, Hajia Lariba Abudu Zuweira was of the view that there were some irregularities in the declaration of Dr Mahama as the winner, hence her sending it to court for it to addressed.

FROM YAHAYA NUHU NADAA, TAMALE