The disqualified presidential hopeful of the All People’s Congress (APC), Hassan Ayariga has said though he will go to court to seek justice for his disqualification from the presidential race he will not seek to stop the election.
“We will go to court but I don’t want to hold the whole country to ransom, [so] I will not put an injunction on the election but I will seek for justice to be delivered to me and to the whole world to know that that people cannot take the law into their own hands and do whatever they want and walk away with it,” he said.
Mr Ayariga, who was first disqualified by the Electoral Commission alongside 11 others, failed to meet the set criteria again, despite a Supreme Court order which presented them with a second opportunity.
Addressing the press today [Friday] at the party’s headquarters in Accra, Mr. Ayariga explained that going to court will afford him the opportunity to seek justice.
“We want justice for our nation; we want justice for the many million Ghanaians who are before me and around me. It is not about Hassan Ayariga and the EC, it is about our nation and all of you want to see that justice is delivered. In mathematics, once you get one equation wrong, no matter the formulas you use, the end result will be wrong. So if we allow the virus of the EC to affect Hassan Ayariga it will affect the rest of you in the future and we don’t want that to happen so let’s correct the virus now.”
We’ve spent millions on campaign
The APC flagbearer further lamented the millions of Ghana cedis his party invested in campaigning ahead of the December polls.
“The APC has spent millions of cedis to get to where we are. This is a serious political party and after a month after we have campaigned throughout and when its left with one month to the election then you come out to disqualify political leaders and you say you are following the regulation C. I. 94 (9)(2b). Yes but you only follow the path that suits you and the path that doesn’t suit you, you don’t care. But we will use the same regulation C.I. 94 (9) (2b) to make sure that justice is delivered to APC Dr. Hassan Ayariga and our election,” he added.
Charlotte Osei must resign
He also called on the EC Chair to resign for committing what he termed as the worst mistake ever in the history of Ghana.
“Whoever appointed her was the worst mistake Ghana has ever done in our history and for that matter we are calling immediately for her resignation that she is not qualified, her institution is no more credible, not free, not fair, to supervise the general election. And if we proceed with this woman whatever comes our faith we should accept it in good faith because we have called for it.”
Background
Hassan Ayariga was disqualified from the contest because some of the subscribers to his nomination form also endorsed other candidates in the contest.
He further sued the EC at the High Court where he prayed the court to order the EC to rope him back into the race.
Though he won the case, the EC took the matter to the Supreme Court after losing a similar case against the Progressive People’s Party.
The Supreme Court in its judgment on Monday, November 7, 2016 extended the deadline for submission of nomination forms allowing the 12 disqualified presidential nominees to amend their forms, however, Mr. Ayariga was again kicked out of the race by the EC.
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