Accra, Dec. 9, – The Electoral Commission (EC) has reaffirmed that only candidates who contested the 2024 Parliamentary Election in the Kpandai Constituency will be permitted to participate in the rerun ordered by the High Court.
Mr. Fred Tetteh, Deputy Director of Research at the EC, said the Commission would not issue a new notice of poll and would not admit fresh candidates for the exercise.
He explained that the rerun would involve only the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), and All People’s Congress (APC) candidates who participated in the 2024 polls.
Although Parliament has formally notified the Commission of a vacancy arising from the court decision, Mr. Tetteh said a date for the rerun has not yet been fixed.
“We have received the notification from Parliament, but the Commission has not settled on a date for the rerun,” he said in an interview on Tuesday.
In November 2025, the Tamale High Court annulled the election of Mr. Matthew Nyindam as Member of Parliament for Kpandai following a petition that cited electoral irregularities. The court subsequently ordered a fresh parliamentary election to be conducted within 30 days.
Following the ruling, the Clerk to Parliament, Mr. Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, in a letter dated December 4, 2025, informed the EC Chairperson, Mrs. Jean Mensa, of the vacancy created by the court’s decision.
Mr. Tetteh said the Commission was reviewing both the court’s directives and Parliament’s notice to determine the appropriate procedural steps ahead of the rerun.
“Preparations are ongoing, and once the Commission meets, an official date will be communicated,” he said.
The court’s decision has drawn mixed reactions from the major political parties. While the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has welcomed the ruling, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has rejected it, arguing that the rerun should have been limited to affected polling stations rather than the entire constituency.
Mr. Nyindam, the incumbent MP, has filed notices of appeal and stay of execution against the High Court’s ruling. The NPP has also criticised the Clerk of Parliament for declaring the seat vacant before the appeal is determined.
The Kpandai Constituency, located in the Kpandai District of the Northern Region, recorded 27,947 votes (53.47 per cent) for Mr. Nyindam in the annulled 2024 parliamentary election. His closest challenger, Mr. Daniel Nsala Wakpal of the NDC, obtained 24,213 votes (46.33 per cent), while Mr. Donkor Eric Nipani of the APC secured 104 votes.
According to 2024 electoral data, the constituency has 152 polling stations and a voter population of 66,850.
GHBUSS
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