Ayariga Disqualification: Court Orders EC, APC To File Statements Simultaneously 

Accra High Court presided over by Justice Barbara Tetteh Charway has ordered lawyers for the Electoral Commission [EC] and the All People's Party, APC, to file their statements of case simultaneously in the suit seeking to quash the disqualification of Hassan Ayariga as a presidential candidate. 

Justice Tetteh Charway has given both parties up to Friday the 28th of this month to file the documents after which they will return to the court on Monday to give oral submissions. 

The court will then set a date for ruling on the case. 

According to GBC’s correspondent, the court has abridged the time to ensure speedy hearing of the suit. 

The founder and flagbearer of the APC, Hassan Ayariga, is challenging his disqualification from the presidential race by the EC. 

He is accordingly praying the court to quash the decision and give him the opportunity to contest as a presidential candidate in this year's general election. 

Mr Ayariga is also seeking a declaration that under CI 94, the EC can only proceed to disqualify a candidate after it has notified him of an invalidity and he fails to amend. 

Meanwhile, the disqualified Presidential candidate of APC, Hassan Ayariga has blamed the National Commission for Civic Education, NCCE, for the errors committed on the nomination forms of disqualified applicants.

According to him, the NCCE which was formerly headed by Mrs Charlotte Osei failed in its mandate to educate the electorate on how to endorse nomination forms.

He said persons who wrongly endorsed the nomination forms for the presidential candidates acted ignorantly.

GBC