The Supreme Court has reinstated the parliamentary seat of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Member of Parliament for Kpandai, Mathew Nyindam, after overturning a High Court decision that had annulled his election and ordered a rerun.
In a 4–1 majority decision, the apex court held that the High Court acted without jurisdiction when it entertained the election petition that led to the cancellation of Mr Nyindam’s victory in the 2024 parliamentary polls. Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, who presided over the five-member panel, delivered a dissenting opinion.
The ruling followed an application by Mr Nyindam, who invoked the Supreme Court’s supervisory jurisdiction to quash the High Court judgment on grounds of jurisdictional error. The court agreed with his position, effectively reinstating him as the duly elected Member of Parliament for the Kpandai constituency.
At the heart of the dispute was the question of when the Electoral Commission (EC) officially gazetted the results of the 2024 parliamentary election for Kpandai. Ghana’s electoral laws require that an election petition be filed within 21 days after the publication of results in the Gazette; otherwise, the court lacks the authority to hear the case.
Mr Nyindam argued that the EC gazetted the results on 24 December 2024, meaning any petition filed outside the 21-day window was time-barred and therefore incompetent. On that basis, he contended that the High Court had no legal basis to annul his election.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), which challenged the election, countered that the 2024 polls presented an unusual situation. According to the party, the EC issued two gazette notices—one dated 24 December 2024 and another on 6 January 2025. The NDC maintained that the latter notice superseded the earlier one, making 6 January 2025 the operative date for the computation of time. They therefore insisted that their petition was filed within the lawful period and that the High Court’s decision was valid.
However, the Supreme Court upheld Mr Nyindam’s application, setting aside the High Court ruling and cancelling the order for a parliamentary rerun in Kpandai.
The court has indicated that its full, reasoned judgment will be delivered on 6 February 2026.
The panel that heard the case comprised Justices Gabriel Scott Pwamang, Amadu-Omoro Tanko, Yonny Kulendi, Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu, and Henry Kwoffie.
