The Supreme Court has set aside the Tamale High Court judgment that annulled the 2024 parliamentary election results for the Kpandai Constituency in the Northern Region, effectively halting the Electoral Commission’s planned rerun.
The apex court delivered the decision by a 4–1 majority, with Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, who presided as President of the panel, dissenting. The majority comprised Justices Yonny Kulendi, Amadu Tanko, Samuel Asiedu and Henry Kwofie.
The court granted an application for certiorari filed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Kpandai, Matthew Nyindam, who challenged the High Court’s authority to nullify his election.
Full reasons for the ruling are expected to be released on 6 February 2026.
In his case before the court, Nyindam argued that the Tamale High Court acted without jurisdiction because the parliamentary election petition filed by National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate Daniel Nsala Wakpal was submitted outside the constitutionally mandated 21-day period.
He contended that the Kpandai parliamentary results were first gazetted on 24 December 2024, making the petition filed on 25 January 2025 time-barred.
His lawyers maintained that once the petition was filed out of time, the High Court lacked the legal authority to hear the matter or issue consequential orders, including the annulment of his election and the directive for a rerun.
Lawyers for the NDC candidate, however, argued that the relevant Gazette notice was published on 6 January 2025 and covered all constituencies, including Kpandai, insisting the petition was filed within the statutory period.
They further contended that Nyindam had relied on the January Gazette in earlier proceedings and could not now reverse his position without raising issues of estoppel and procedural fairness.
The Electoral Commission, which had scheduled a rerun for 31 December 2025 following the High Court judgment, told the court that multiple Gazette notifications existed, reflecting different batches of constituency results.
The EC’s planned rerun was subsequently put on hold pending the Supreme Court’s final determination.
With the Supreme Court quashing the High Court ruling, the proposed rerun of the Kpandai parliamentary election has been halted, leaving Matthew Nyindam’s parliamentary seat intact.
The decision clears the way for him to continue serving as the Member of Parliament for the Kpandai Constituency.
