All
seven presidential aspirants of the opposition National Democratic Congress
(NDC) have been cleared to contest in the presidential primary slated for
February 23.
Balloting
for positions on the ballot paper took place yesterday at the party’s
headquarters in Adabraka, Accra.
Alban
Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Nadowli Kaleo and
current Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament picked the first position on the
ballot paper while businessman Nurideen Iddrisu took the second position on the paper.
Former President John Dramani Mahama, who is
highly tipped to win the contest, picked the third position while former NHIS Chief
Executive Sylvester Mensah, picked the fourth position.
Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, a former Trade and Industry
Minister, took the fifth position while Goosie O. Tanoh, who left the NDC to
form the now defunct National Reform Party (NRP) in the run-up to the 2000
general elections, picked the sixth position.
Former Vice Chancellor of University of Professional Studies,
Accra (UPSA) Prof Joshua Alabi picked the seventh position on the ballot paper.
Yesterday,
Yaw Boateng Gyan, a member of the Appeals Committee of the party, said on radio
that all the aspirants had gone through the vetting process successfully.
He said there has not been any petition against
any of the aspirants for the committee to consider.
Mr. Gyan denied reports that Mr. Tanoh had been disqualified
for breaking away from the NDC to form the NRP in the past.
Election Date
Initially, the presidential primary was slated
for December 7, 2018, but could not take place as planned because the party’s
leadership claimed the time between NDC’s congress and the presidential primary
was too short.
The election was later scheduled for January 26,
2019, but again it could not take place because two NDC members – James Kabu Nartey and Abdallah Issah- filed a suit against the party in December 2018.
They
challenged the rules and guidelines set by the party for the presidential
primary scheduled for January 26, 2019.
The NDC’s presidential primary has now been postponed to February 23, 2019 which is the last Saturday of next month.
By Melvin Tarlue
