President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday, 29 September, 2016 filed his nomination forms with the Electoral Commission (EC) to be eligible to contest in this year’s presidential elections.
The vice president, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, and governing National Democratic Congress General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia submitted the forms on behalf of the president.
The Electoral Commission is, however, not accepting the GHS50,000 filing fee that must be added to the forms to complete the process because the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has sued the EC over the fee. The EC has taken such action so as not to be in contempt of court.
Earlier in the day, Nana Akufo-Addo and Kofi Akpaloo, flag bearers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Independent People’s Party (IPP), respectively, also submitted their forms.
The rest are Agyenim Boateng, United Front Party (UFP) and Dr Hassan Ayariga, All People's Congress (APC).
The PPP sued the election management body a few weeks ago in an attempt to have the court force it to review the presidential nomination fee.
The PPP is seeking a declaration that Regulation 45 of C.I. 94 is discriminatory, arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable. “That the entire C.I. 94 does not contain the appropriate relevant provisions that meet the intendment of Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution.”
The other reliefs sought include: “A declaration that the proper instrument within the meaning of the relevant laws of the Republic of Ghana, in charging a deposit or fees for conducting a presidential or parliamentary election, by the Electoral Commission, is a statutory instrument and not constitutional instrument. An order directed at the defendants to desist from collecting and or receiving the said deposit or fees for the conduct of the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections until the appropriate statutory instruments have been passed in accordance with appropriate legal rights.”
So far 23 nominees, including seven independent aspirants, have picked forms to run for president. They are to start filing their nominations between today and Friday September 30.
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