Lawyers for Speaker Alban Bagbin have called on one of the judges hearing the case regarding the four vacant parliamentary seats, Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, to recuse himself.
During a court proceeding on Wednesday, October 30, lead counsel Thaddeus Sory cited Justice Gaewu’s affiliation with the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Mr. Sory recalled that the Supreme Court Justice had once contested as an MP on the NPP ticket in the Volta Region and, therefore, cannot be involved in the case.
“He was known to be associated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and in fact, he was a parliamentary candidate in one of their constituencies in the Volta Region,” he argued.
On October 18, 2024, Effutu MP and Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin filed an ex-parte motion challenging Speaker Bagbin’s declaration of four seats as vacant. This was in response to the MPs’ decision to cross carpets ahead of the December 7 election, making the NPP the Minority with 135 seats, as three of its 138 seats were affected.
The Apex Court ordered a stay of execution on the Speaker’s declaration, sparking controversy.
However, Speaker Bagbin has filed an application challenging the apex court’s decision, arguing that it misapplied the law by putting on hold the execution of his ruling because it was a non-judicial decision.
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