The legal team representing Dr Mahama Tia Kabiru, the disputed New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate in the Walewale constituency of the North East Region, has expressed disappointment following a court ruling ordering a rerun of the party’s primary.

The ruling, delivered by the Tamale High Court on Monday, September 2, 2024, has sparked concerns among Dr Tiah Abdul-Kabiru Mahama's supporters.

The lawyer for Dr Kabiru, Samson Lardi Anyenini voiced his dissatisfaction, arguing that the ruling unfairly favours the plaintiff, incumbent MP Hajia Lariba Zuweratu.

He stated, "The bottom line is that once it was established by fact, not concoction, by pure evidence, documentary, telephone conversation and video encounters to show that the elections were fair, our point was that the law is that if you commit a crime, you will not benefit from your crime."

"Once the plaintiff was found to be the one who got the people impersonating the six dead people, and who got the people impersonating the absentees, she must not benefit from her wrong. The law is that if you commit a wrong, you must not benefit. So our expectation was that the court will say, Yes, we found this, that it happened, but the person who did that is the one who has come to court, the plaintiff, so she must suffer, and not get a judgment in her favour,” he explained.

The court's decision came after Hajia Lariba Zuweratu challenged the results of the NPP primary held in January 2024, where she was narrowly defeated by Dr Kabiru by just seven votes. Following the election, allegations of electoral irregularities led to the legal challenge and subsequent court ruling.

Justice Richard Kogyapwah, who presided over the case, ordered a rerun of the primary, effectively restraining Dr Kabiru from holding himself as the elected candidate.

The defendant, Dr Tia Kabiru insists he did nothing wrong in the polls and will explore all options to clear his name.

"You have committed an illegality and you are in court to use the same illegality to punish someone. I have never seen this kind of injustice," he told journalists.

The ruling comes just a week before the filing of parliamentary and presidential nominations for the upcoming December 7 elections.

• Read also: Tamale High Court orders rerun of NPP Walewale parliamentary primary

The legal team for Dr Kabiru is now considering its options as they prepare for another round of voting in the Walewale constituency

Commenting after the proceeding, the lawyer for the plaintiff, Sylvester Isang, told pressmen that "it's better late than never."

"We believe that the party, at the moment, can even disregard what has happened in court. The party has the constitutional mandate to reopen nominations and even disregard the two candidates and invite other people who are willing to come forward."

The Judge, Justice Richard Kogyapwah, who gave the ruling on Monday, September 2, said the full judgement will be read on September 12, 2024.

Background

On June 2024, the Tamale High Court placed an injunction on Dr Mahama Tia Kabiru restraining him from holding himself as the elected parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party for the Walewale constituency in the North East Region.

The ruling by Justice Richard Kugyapaw, followed a challenge to the election results by the incumbent Member of Parliament, Hajia Lariba Zuweratu.

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In January this year, Dr Kabiru, a 35-year-old PhD holder and Vice Presidential special advisor, narrowly defeated Hajia Lariba in a tightly contested primary. The election, conducted under heavy security with the presence of regional and constituency executives, saw Dr Kabiru winning with 345 votes to Hajia Lariba's 338 votes.

Hajia Lariba quickly rejected the election outcome and filed an ex-parte motion at the Tamale High Court, alleging electoral irregularities and malpractice by the party which organised the polls, and the Electoral Commission, which supervised the polls.

She sought an injunction to prevent Dr Kabiru from holding himself as the winner, which was eventually granted.

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Two other candidates in the primary, Tahiru Sham-Una and Jangdoo Mahama, garnered 145 and 1 votes, respectively.

Initially, the NPP, as a third defendant, attempted to dismiss the case, accusing Hajia Lariba of violating the party's constitution by not exhausting internal conflict resolution mechanisms before approaching the court.

Before the injunction, supporters of the NPP in the Walewale constituency at a news conference called for the intervention of the party's Presidential Candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, to resolve the dispute.

They warned that if the issue was not addressed promptly, it could jeopardise the party's chances in the upcoming general elections.

Walewale is the home constituency of the Vice President and NPP flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.