Nana Ato Dadzie, a member of the NDC’s legal team, has questioned the motive of the NPP to criticize the party’s decision to join the suit filed by the NPP against the declaration of John Mahama as the winner of the 2012 presidential election. Last week Friday, NPP’s presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo, his running mate Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and the party chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey filed an election petition seeking the declaration of the presidential election results to be overturned, arguing it has evidence to show the figures churned out by the EC were invalid. The NDC on Wednesday filed to join the suit as an interested party, and according to the party, its decision was taken because the president was elected on the ticket of the NDC. “The NDC therefore has a direct stake in any action that seeks to set aside the verdict of the people of the republic of Ghana, duly gazetted on the 11th of December last year,” Nana Ato Dadzie told Joy News. However, Chairman of the NPP’s constitutional committee, Mr. Ayikoi Otoo has described the decision by the NDC as a party to join the court suit as unfortunate and misplaced. He explained in an interview with Citi FM, “The law gives the right to challenge the validity of election to a citizen of Ghana; it is not given to a person because a person may include a legal person like the registered NDC party. So if the NDC goes to court then they are going as a legal person and that will be out of place because since we speak about citizen and not a person I don’t see how the NDC will qualify. “If you look at the language use; ‘the petition shall state the full name and particulars of the citizenship of the petitioner and how the citizenship was acquired’, can the NDC acquire a citizenship of Ghana?” But Nana Ato Dadzie insisted that NPP has no moral right to complain about the decision taken by the NDC, and called on the NPP to allow the Supreme Court to decide whether NDC qualifies to join the suit or not. “I think that, really, all those who have gone to court should be the last to complain that others are going to court, I really don’t think that it is a fair play.” Nana Ato Dadzie also questioned the basis for the NPP to make Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey one of the three petitioners in the suit. “In any case, what is Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey doing in that action? If it’s a petition [which] must be brought by the petitioner, the person who has lost, then what is he doing there? Of course he claims that he is an interested party.” He maintained: “If he as the chairman deems it fit to be in there, why would anyone want to stop the NDC, for that matter [its] chairman or general secretary or other interested leaders to be there? We will be there?”