Former Central Regional Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, has stated that former Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, failed to conduct due diligence in his decision to contest the election in the constituency.
Speaking on the Wednesday, June 8, 2023, edition of Kokrokoo on Peace FM, Allotey Jacobs said Gyakye Quayson gambled with his political career by failing to completely renounce his Canadian citizenship.
"With Gyakye Quayson, despite the disqualification and everything, I've had a good relationship with him, so it becomes difficult talking about it. His father was also a comrade of mine with whom we both joined the national party, so it's very difficult talking about his issue. He is a good man; in spite of everything, he is a good man. Some say the law is an ass, but the law is not an ass. The law has its course, and I believe in his own way, he was not diligent. He gambled with his political fortune, and that has led him to where he is," he stated.
The Supreme Court of Ghana recently issued a ruling that declared Gyakye Quayson's election as a Member of Parliament in 2020 as unconstitutional, null, and void.
According to the Supreme Court, Gyakye Quayson held Canadian citizenship at the time of filing his nomination as the NDC's parliamentary candidate in 2020.
The court's ruling led the Clerk of Parliament to declare the Assin North seat vacant.
Subsequently, the Electoral Commission has scheduled a by-election in Assin North for June 27, 2023, following the declaration by the Clerk.
Meanwhile, the NDC has stated its intention to re-present Gyakye Quayson as its candidate for the upcoming election, despite a criminal process brought against him in relation to his 2020 election contest.
According to former Deputy General Secretary Koku Anyidoho, Gyakye Quayson was disqualified from contesting in the NDC's primaries in 2012 and 2016 due to his possession of Canadian citizenship but was approved in 2020 by then General Secretary now National Chairman Asiedu Nketiah.
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