Samuel Aboagye, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Obuasi East Constituency, has formally withdrawn his legal challenge against the Electoral Commission (EC) regarding the controversial second collation and declaration of election results, which overturned his initial victory.
Aboagye, who was initially declared the winner of the Obuasi East parliamentary seat after the December 8, 2024, elections, saw his victory reversed following a second collation conducted by the EC. The revised results declared Patrick Boakye Yiadom of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as the winner.
In response, Aboagye filed a lawsuit, seeking to nullify the EC’s second collation and compel the Commission to publish the initial results, which he claimed were valid. However, during a High Court hearing on January 4, 2025, his legal counsel, Elikplim Agbemava, announced the withdrawal of the application.
“We do have the instructions of the applicant (Samuel Aboagye) to withdraw the application, and we filed a notice of discontinuance on January 3, 2025,” Agbemava stated before the Court presided over by Justice Forson Baah Agyapong. He further requested the withdrawal be granted with the liberty to reapply in the future.
The legal counsel for Patrick Boakye Yiadom, Gary Nimako, did not object to the withdrawal request. Justice Forson Baah Agyapong subsequently struck out the application as withdrawn, granting Aboagye the option to refile the case if necessary.
The initial lawsuit had raised significant questions about alleged irregularities in the electoral process. Aboagye contended that the second collation, conducted on December 21, 2024, was a violation of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (C.I. 127), which he argued does not permit a second collation after official results have been declared.
He further argued that Form 1D, a legally binding document summarizing the election results and signed by all candidates and their representatives during the first collation, should have been final. Aboagye sought an injunction preventing the EC from publishing results contrary to the initial declaration.
The withdrawal of the lawsuit ends the current legal proceedings but leaves the door open for future challenges. Aboagye’s decision to discontinue the case comes amidst ongoing discussions about the transparency and credibility of the 2024 parliamentary elections in the Obuasi East Constituency.
While the NPP’s Patrick Boakye Yiadom remains the declared winner, the legal and political fallout from the case highlights the critical importance of electoral integrity and adherence to established procedures. The NDC has not yet commented on whether it plans to pursue other legal avenues regarding the matter.
