I knew the odds were against me – Justice Abdulai on dismissed review of Deputy Speaker voting case

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Private legal practitioner, Justice Abdulai, has indicated that he expected the Supreme Court to reject his quest to get them set aside the March 9 judgement on the voting rights of a Deputy Speaker while presiding over proceedings of Parliament.

According to Justice Abdulai, a review application is probably one of the most difficult things to succeed at the Supreme Court.

On March 9, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a Deputy Speaker of Parliament retains his voting rights as an MP even when presiding over proceedings.

Hearing the review case today, also in a unanimous decision, the apex court dismissed the plaintiff’s case.

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Interacting with the press following proceedings, Justice Abdulai noted that “I knew the odds were against me. Some had predicted 1:100. I had predicted almost zero, except that I still moved forward just because in principle, I believe the Supreme Court is made of seasoned lawyers and if you make strong arguments before them, they are amenable to review their decision.”

Accepting the court’s verdict, he therefore urged Ghanaians to “move on as a nation.”

Justice Jones Dotse, who presided over the case on Tuesday dismissed the application saying it had failed to meet the threshold required for a review case to succeed.

“The application is accordingly dismissed,” he said.

The review case was heard by Justices Dotse, Nene Amegatcher, Prof Ashie Kotey, Lovelace Johnson, Mariama Owusu, Clemence Honyenuga, Gertrude Torkonoo, Prof. Mensah Bonsu and Emmanuel Kulendi.