Akufo-Addo delivers first State of the Nation Address of today
-President Akufo-Addo will according to Article 67 of Ghana’s Constitution address the nation today
-He is addressing the nation after the Supreme Court affirmed his 2020 presidential victory
-He is expected to talk about the outcome of the petition
President, Nana Akufo-Addo will on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, deliver the first State of the Nation Address of his second term.
This is per Article 67 of the Constitution, which mandates the president to present to Parliament the address at the beginning of each session of Parliament and before the dissolution of Parliament.
Source: Facebook
President Akufo-Addo’s address to the nation comes days after the Supreme Court upheld his electoral victory in the December 7, 2020, general elections.
The president’s address is expected to cover every fabric of the country’s development including; economy, agriculture, environment, education, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Akufo-Addo will also be expected to address the Supreme Court’s affirmation of his 2020 electoral triumph over former President John Mahama.
The Court dismissed Mahama’s challenge to the 2020 presidential election results in the election petition trial on Thursday, March 4, 2021.
Akufo-Addo defeated Mahama in the said election to secure another four-year term; collecting 51.302% of the votes cast against the latter’s 47.359%.
The votes difference between the two candidates stood at 517, 231, representing a four percentage point, one of the highest since 1996.
The NDC flagbearer in the 2020 election petitioned the Supreme Court to order a second round of the December 7, election.
According to him, the votes obtained by NPP’s candidate, Akufo-Addo, and himself in the December 7, election as declared by the EC Chair were not enough for a candidate to be declared the winner.
The seven-member panel that heard the petition, however, said it cannot order a rerun of the 2020 presidential polls.
The panel held that the former president failed to adduce “cogent evidence” to back his claims that there was no winner in the December 7, 2020, presidential elections.
“The court expected the pink sheets to be exhibited to prove the claims,” the Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah, the president of the panel stated.
In his last State of the Nation Address, President Akufo-Addo praised the decision by the former president to challenge the outcome of the 2020 presidential polls in court.
According to him, the challenge by the NDC flagbearer is healthy for the country.
“I recognize my main opponent in the election has gone to the Supreme Court to seek their intervention over his concerns on the outcome of the polls.
“It is good for the nation that in the end, he chose the legal path instead of the pockets of violence that attended the immediate aftermath of the elections,” the president said in his last SONA.
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