General Secretary of the main opposition NPP), Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, has described as ‘unfortunate’ the Supreme Court’s decision to ban Sammy Awuku, the party’s deputy Communications Director from attending the 2012 election petition hearing at the Supreme Court.

He believes failure by the penal to penalize earlier statements made by some individuals prior to the last warning issued on Monday, triggered their decision to ‘red card’ Sammy Awuku last Wednesday in an open court.

According to him, Sammy Awuku's description of the Supreme Court warning to the media and party representatives in the ongoing election petition as “hypocritical and selective”, was not disrespectful and contemptuous as compared to that of President John Dramani Mahama and Gabby Asumeng’s utterances hinting of a civil war if the nine panel judges rule the election petition in favour of Nana Akufo-Addo.

“If there is an elder in a family and he doesn’t stamp his authority to solve issues afore, and that same issue is repeated with a punishment to the offender, one will think the elder has not been fair. Sammy Awuku was only stating the obvious except for the choice of words he used,” he said.

The NPP's deputy director of communications was reported to have said on Peace FM that the nine-member panel led by Justice William Atuguba was choosy in citing precisely the report by the Daily Guide newspaper that some boxes containing pink sheets in his custody had been retrieved.

The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, tempered justice with mercy when it decided not to strike hard on Sammy Awuku for making presumptuous comments regarding a warning the court issued to deal with persons who misreport the court proceedings.

Presiding Judge, Justice William Atuguba, who delivered the court's decision on Sammy Awuku’s utterances said, though they have decided not to invoke their powers of contempt, they will restrict his (Sammy Awuku) appearance to court; thus barring Mr. Awuku from coming to the courtroom to witness proceedings.

Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, however, advised the communication team members of the NPP to be circumspect, regarding their utterances on the election petition suit so as not to be cited for contempt.

Nonetheless, he insisted that the NPP will never desist from criticizing the unscrupulous governance of President Mahama.

He added that Sammy Awuku’s caution should not deter them from commenting on the court case in any way but "we must be careful".