NDC can’t be selective in obeying SC ruling – Ben Abdallah Banda

A former Chairman for the Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Ben Abdallah Banda, has chided the leadership of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for saying they will be selective in obeying the ruling of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court last week ruled that a Deputy Speaker of Parliament presiding over the house as a speaker can be counted to form a quorum and also have voting rights on the floor of Parliament.

The Minority in parliament are unhappy with the ruling and have dared anyone to walk to the floor of parliament to enforce it.

Reacting to the NDC and the Minority’s posture, Mr. Ben Abdallah Banda said “the NDC as a party cannot be selective in obeying the orders of the apex court of the land.”

“In 2012 in the matter of Election Petition brought against the then-sitting president John Dramani Mahama by now president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to annul votes on December 7, 2012, general elections. When the same apex court ruled in the favour of the NDC, as aggrieved as the NPP was it accepted and obeyed the outcome of the court process,” he stated.

To this end, he reminded the NDC and the Minority that the Supreme Court bar is a double-edged sword that cuts both sides.

Mr. Banda who is a lawyer by profession and former Member of Parliament for Offinso South Constituency in the Ashanti Region on the ticket of the governing New Patriotic Party took issues with the NDC’s decision not to obey the orders of the Supreme Court while speaking on the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Kwame Obeng Sarkodie on Accra 100.5 FM, Monday, March 14, 2022.

According to him, if the Supreme Court or any other court of the land makes a pronouncement, one can critique it but cannot disobey its ruling.

“You can critique the Supreme Court in its ruling but not to the extent of ridiculing that institution of the state”, he posited.