Supreme Court quashes Kpandai election rerun order, restores Nyindam’s seat

The Supreme Court has set aside a Tamale High Court judgment that annulled the parliamentary election results for the Kpandai Constituency in the Northern Region, effectively halting the Electoral Commission’s planned rerun.

The apex court delivered its decision in a 4–1 majority ruling. Justice Gabriel Scott Pawmang, who presided as President of the panel, dissented.

The majority decision was delivered by Justices Yonny Kulendi, Amadu Tanko, Samuel Asiedu and Henry Kwofie.

The Court granted an application for certiorari filed by New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Kpandai, Matthew Nyindam, who had challenged the High Court’s authority to nullify his election. The Supreme Court indicated that full reasons for the ruling will be released on 6 February 2026.

Nyindam argued that the Tamale High Court acted without jurisdiction in entertaining the parliamentary election petition filed by National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate Daniel Nsala Wakpal.

According to his case, the Kpandai parliamentary results were gazetted on 24 December 2024, making the petition filed on 25 January 2025 outside the statutory 21-day period allowed for election petitions.

His legal team maintained that the petition was therefore time-barred, and that all orders flowing from the High Court’s decision including the annulment of his election and the directive for a rerun were null and void.

With the Supreme Court quashing the High Court judgment, the planned rerun of the Kpandai parliamentary election has been halted. The decision effectively leaves Nyindam’s election standing, allowing him to retain his seat in Parliament as the representative of the people of Kpandai.

Following the ruling, Nyindam expressed gratitude to God and to supporters who stood by him throughout the legal battle.