Private legal practitioner Richard Nii Armah has suggested that the recently dismissed petitions seeking the removal of the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, her two deputies, and the Special Prosecutor may have been undermined by poor drafting and presentation.
Mr Armah observed that the petitioners likely allowed emotions to cloud their judgement, leading to expectations that did not align with legal realities.
He emphasised that removing such high-ranking officials requires strict adherence to constitutional procedures. If the established legal threshold for removal is not met, these officeholders cannot be forced out of their positions.
Consequently, he urged Ghanaians to accept the Chief Justice’s decision.
Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie ruled that there were insufficient legal grounds to proceed with the petitions. According to a statement released by the Presidency on Wednesday, the Chief Justice found no prima facie case in any of the ten petitions submitted.
The president, John Dramani Mahama, had referred the petitions to the chief justice on November 25, 2025, following the protocols laid out in Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 15 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act.
The bundle included seven petitions directed at the Electoral Commission’s leadership and three targeting the Special Prosecutor. In a letter dated January 26, 2026, the Chief Justice concluded that the evidence provided did not merit further investigation, effectively ending the current attempt to oust the officials.
While some petitioners and civil society organisations expressed disappointment, Mr Richard Nii Armah maintained that the judicial outcome must be respected.
He pointed out that several of the arguments voiced in the media appeared to lack legal weight.
“Submitting a petition for the removal of the EC Commissioner and the Special Prosecutor must meet a threshold. The petitions have not been released yet, but one of the reasons why some individuals wanted the special prosecutor out was because they claimed he had allowed former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to move out of Ghana. This is a frivolous reason and unmeritorious. We may not have seen all the content of the petitions, but we must respect the outcome,” he said on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM.
He further noted that the process must remain grounded in law rather than public sentiment.
“Some of the petitioners, during media interviews, gave frivolous reasons why they wanted these public officers removed. They allowed their emotions to cloud their judgement. So far as the Chief Justice has stated that no prima facie case was established, we have to accept the outcome and move on. This is a judicial process and must be fair. You cannot petition for the removal of a public officer without any strong evidence but expect that your petition survives on emotion.”
He added that President Mahama acted solely as a facilitator in the process, forwarding the petitions as required by law without personal involvement in their content. Finally, he noted that while these specific petitions failed, nothing legally prevents the petitioners from filing new ones in the future.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
