Inusah Fuseini, a former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central and a legal practitioner, has said the former Electoral Commission Chairperson Charlotte Osei would not have been removed from office if Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie had been Chief Justice at the time.
The former MP detailed that the Chief Justice used a lower threshold in his decision to dismiss the petitions seeking the removal of the current Electoral Commission’s leadership.
He argued that if Justice Baffoe-Bonnie were the Chief Justice, he would have protected the Electoral Commission’s leadership, particularly when his threshold is not breaches of statute.
Speaking on JoyNews on February 21, 2026, Inusah Fuseini. “… Now, today, by the judgment of or by the decision of Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, it appears to me that that threshold was a lower threshold, and probably if Justice Baffoe-Bonnie were sitting at that time as a Chief Justice, Charlotte Osei would not have gone home because, again, institutionally, he would have protected that institution, particularly when his threshold is not breaches of statute”.
“The only reason why I say that the decision is a decision that seeks to establish institutions of governance is that I see Baffoe-Bonnie as an institutionalist.
“From this finding, I see him more directed towards creating powerful governance institutions for this country and making sure that people who occupy those institutions are not subjected to the whims and caprices of other Ghanaians to make them very unstable,” he added.
He further indicated, “The second issue I have with it is that consistency is a virtue in jurisprudence and that’s why we have precedent”.
“Never mind that he didn’t set the first precedent. There is precedent in electoral practice and constitutional practice that once upon a time, breaches of an act of parliament, the procurement act of parliament was held to be enough to meet the threshold of article 146 (1) of the constitution, incompetence,” he concluded.
His comments follow the announcement by Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the Government Communications Minister, who revealed that the Chief Justice, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, found no prima facie determination on petitions against the Electoral Commissioner Jean Mensa, her deputies, and the Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng.
It will be recalled that President Mahama referred seven petitions calling for the removal of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa and her Deputies and Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng, to the Chief Justice for a determination on November 25, 2025.
The referral was made in accordance with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 15 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959), to ascertain whether the petitions disclosed a prima facie case.
However, a statement issued by the Presidency on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, read, “Following the receipt of seven (7) petitions from various individuals and groups for the removal of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission and her Deputies, and three (3) petitions for the removal of the Special Prosecutor, President John Dramani Mahama, in accordance with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 15 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959), referred same to His Lordship, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Chief Justice, on 25 November 2025, to determine whether the petitions disclosed a prima facie case.
By a letter dated 26 January 2026, the Chief Justice informed His Excellency the President that no prima facie case had been established by the petitions to warrant any further investigations for the removal of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Deputy Commissioners and the Special Prosecutor.”This determination means no committee will be formed, and no further proceedings for removal will take place based on those petitions”.
Meanwhile, the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Legal Director, Edudzi Tamakloe, has said the party maintains its stand that the Electoral Commission’s leadership must be removed.
According to Edudzi Tamakloe, despite the Chief Justice’s dismissal of petitions seeking their removal, the NDC still maintained its call for the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa and deputies to be removed.
He stressed that the Chief Justice’s decision will not alter the NDC’s position.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, February 19, Edudzi Tamakloe stated, “I want to make the point that the NDC still believes that the current composition of the Electoral Commission and how they have conducted their work over the past five years leaves much to be desired”.
“From what I am reading, it does appear that the Chief Justice has taken the position that the matters raise very serious administrative and constitutional issues, and so possibly the fault is not Article 146 alone. Those matters can be litigated in a different place other than the Supreme Court,” he noted.