A writ was filed at an Accra High Court on Monday asking it to strike out the name of Professor John Evans Atta Mills, from the list of candidates for the December vote “due to a defect on his nomination forms”.
Mr Isaac Kwadjo Obeng, a member of one of the two factions of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), filed the writ.
The respondents are the Electoral Commissioner, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Electoral Commissioner, Leader of the other faction of DPP, Mr Dan Markin and Prof. Mills, presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
In his statement of claim, Mr Obeng is also asking the court to “declare as null and void, and incompetent” the nomination forms of Prof. Mills because they were signed by Mr Markin, “who lacked the capacity to act as representative of the DPP in the Progressive Alliance.”
He said an Accra High Court presided over by Mrs Justice Vida Akoto Bamfo, convicted the EC and Mr Markin of contempt, when the Electoral Commissioner or his agents supervised a DPP Congress during, which Mr Markin was elected as leader of the party.
Mr Obeng contended that it was “wrong and illegal” for Mr Markin “to have held himself out as leader of the DPP with authority to sign the presidential nomination forms.”
“The true legal position, therefore, is that the said election supervised by the Electoral Commissioner under which Mr Markin is purported to have become the leader of the DPP is null and void.”
The writ said for Mr Markin to sign Prof. Mills’ nomination papers not as a voter simply but as head or the DPP and a member of the Progressive Alliance makes it null and void.
He argued that Dr Afari-Gyan should have used “that same spectacles, which he used to disqualify Mr Thomas Nuako Ward-Brew from standing as a DPP presidential candidate to disallow Mr Markin from signing the nomination forms.”
Mr Obeng’s said Prof. Mills “made a fatal error in allowing a controversial person such as Mr Markin with contempt conviction on his head and multiplicity of court bails on his heels to have signed his nomination forms.” Mr Ward Brew heads the other faction of the DPP.
