General News of Saturday, 28 May 2016
Source: Starrfmonline.com
Raymond Atuguba
Former Executive Secretary to President John Mahama, Raymond Atuguba has stated categorically that Abu Ramadan and his colleague who sued the electoral commission over the validity of the voters’ register lost the case at the Supreme Court.
According to him, the substantive reliefs that were being sought by the plaintiffs were not granted by the apex court.
There is enormous amount of confusion over the Judgment of the Supreme Court on the time and means of removing NHIS card holders on the voters register, as ruled by the Supreme Court.
While the EC insists there is no express directive from the court on the exact time and the methodology for the removal of names of NHIS card holders, the plaintiffs claim that the court ordered the election management body to immediately remove such names before the November polls.
Commenting on the judgment on Newsfile Saturday, the law lecturer said many Ghanaians, including lawyers are confusing themselves with the judgment of the court.
“…This is where many people are going astray. If in substance (the judgment) does not lead to actual orders for someone to do something, then you have not gotten anything.
“On the matters that are of concern to Ghanaians, on the substance (that was taken to court) the plaintiffs got zero percent of the reliefs. It cannot be said that they have won their case.
“The judgment is clear but a section of Ghanaians are trying to pitch the judgment in their own idiosyncrasies,” he explained.
He added that the Supreme Court refrained from ordering the immediate removal of NHIS registrants from the register because it recognizes that it will be improper and impractical for it to meddle in the internal affairs of the EC.