Supporters and sympathizers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) aspiring parliamentary candidate for the Yendi Constituency, Hajia Abibata Shani Mahama, says they are not ready to meet or engage any leader or elder of the party.
According to them, they felt disappointed about the decision of the National Executive Committee (NEC), hence their action.
“Since NEC has decided to bury the truth and took a whimsical and capricious decision without consulting any of the elders whose names are mentioned above, we have decided to advise ourselves and in due course, we shall lay bare our plans”, they said.
The supporters of MASLOC Boss made these remarks in a statement copied to diamondfmonline.com on Monday April 22, 2024.
In a presser, they extended an esteemed warning to the elders of the party most especially H.E Alhaji Amin Amadu, Hon Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu, H.E Alhaji Mohammad Habibu Tijani, Alhaji Osman Baba Daney, and Hon Hajia Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakariah not to make attempt to reach out to them in attempt to reconcile them with anybody because they have already made their minds.
“We wish to repeat that we are disappointed in the decision. It is a wrong decision. It is a dangerous decision that is made to serve the interest of an individual instead of the collective good of the party. We want to state unequivocally that no leader or elder of the New Patriotic Party should dare attempt to reach out to us, especially H.E Alhaji Amin Amadu, Hon Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu, H.E Alhaji Mohammad Habibu Tijani, Alhaji Osman Baba Daney, and Hon Hajia Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakariah, they stated.
Below is the copy of the statement
PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE IMPOSITION OF HON. ALHAJI UMAR FAROUK ALIU MAHAMA AS THE NPP PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE OF THE YENDI CONSTITUENCY FOR THE ELECTION 2024. MONDAY APRIL22ND 2024
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press. Thank you for responding to our call for this important matter of concern not only to the NPP in Yendi but to all patriots and well-meaning Ghanaians.
Following the gross electoral malpractices and manipulations of the NPP Yendi Constituency Parliamentary Primaries held on 27th January 2024 by some National, Regional, and Constituency Executives in connivance with some officers of the Electoral Commission, that resulted in the unfortunate violence that marred the elections leading to inconclusive outcomes. We have noted very ill-fated developments that tend to cause legacy problems for the party in Yendi and thereby affect the party’s fortunes in breaking the 8.
1. We wish to put it on record that the Parliamentary Primaries Protocols for Incumbent Members of Parliament of the NPP issued by the Party on the 22nd of January 2024 with reference number
NPP/HQ/PR/2024/01/22/GS/PP, the Party mandated the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) to supervise the Parliamentary Primaries and granted the Commission with the full responsibility for ensuring transparency, free and fair elections. Further, the protocols prohibited party officials, government appointees, and other persons from acting in contravention of the Electoral Commission and the guidelines. Despite the absence of evidence as to the winner of the elections, without any lawful authority, and in gross disregard for the election protocols issued by the party, the 3rd National Vice Chairman, Alhaji Masawudu Osman illegitimately declared the incumbent MP as the winner of the inconclusive elections. This was surely part of the grand scheme to rig the elections for the incumbent.
2. Friends from the media, ladies, and gentlemen, it will interest you to know that Yendi was the only constituency among the four constituencies where five (5) regional executives came to supervise the elections. When other places had just two. The presence of the 5 regional executives including the regional chairman was a serious call for worry. Their presence together with the mercenaries of the EC who were also brought from Kpandai, Saboba, Sagnerigu, and the regional EC office made a lot of people suspicious of the fact that the establishment had an agenda to execute. This increased the tension on the grounds and the stakes became higher. Indeed there was a plan that was hatched, cooked, and executed by illegitimately declaring the incumbent MP as the winner of the botched elections on 27th January 2024.
3. Ladies and gentlemen, the Electoral Commission (EC) which is an independent constitutional body, that was given the ultimate responsibility of conducting the elections examined the reports from its officers and disassociated itself from the unlawful and invalid declaration by the 3rdNational Vice Chairman. It equally interdicted five of its officers who were complicit in the grand ploy by the MP to rig the primaries. Further, the EC concluded that there was no winner, as such, there should be a re-run of the elections.
4. As supporters of Hajia Abibata and true loyalists of the great NPP, we petitioned the NEC. We held several press conferences to highlight the need for the party to intervene to resolve the impasse in accordance with the letter and spirit of our party’s constitution and the democratic tenets established by our tradition. Several groups including the NPP Youth in Yendi, and the Concerned NPP Members in Yendi petitioned and held press conferences to seek a just determination of the issues in the supreme interest of the party. All these efforts fell on deaf ears.
5. The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the New Patriotic Party has shown a bad faith in this situation and has taken an uncompromising position not to listen to anybody. The National Organizer, Mr Henry Nana Boakye granted an interview on Metro TV on 8th April 2024 a day before the NEC meeting to decide on Yendi. He never minced words in telling the whole world his position as a national officer. Someone who is expected to be a referee showed an open bias for the incumbent MP.
6. Friends from the media, Hajia Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakaria is a true patriot with good standing in the party and has so much respect and love for the NPP. In the spirit of her love for the party and respect for the party’s structure and leadership, she issued a statement on 9thApril 2024 to express her disagreement with the statement and equally respected the decision. Not only did Hajia Abibata respect the decision, but she also called on us (her supporters) to accept and respect the decision in the supreme interest of the party even though officially NEC did not communicate their decision to her as an interested party in this whole brouhaha. We, the supporters and sympathisers of Hajia Abibata wish to make it clear that much as we respect her position on the matter, we are not happy with the decision of NEC. We therefore disassociate ourselves from her statement. It is an affront to natural justice and an insult to the good conscience of the constituents. Such machinations and injustices have no place in our current dispensation.
7. It is imperative to point out that such undemocratic, unfair, and cruel machinations led the NPP from having a 169 parliamentary majority with over 60 seats ahead of the NDC in the 2016 elections to a struggling majority in the 2020 elections. We thought that the party and NEC would have learned lessons from the over 30 parliamentary seats we lost in the 2020 elections and exercise restraint in imposing a candidate on any constituency against the wishes of the delegates and the people. Unfortunately, good conscience has evaded the infant NEC that must unite the party towards breaking the 8.
8. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Yendi constituency has a history. For those who may not know, even though Hon Malik was legitimately elected, some forces ganged up to sabotage him which led to the loss of the seat in the 2008 elections. Suffice it to say that for the first time in the history of the fourth republic, Yendi lost its seat to the NDC when the sitting Vice President was a native of Yendi. Great men and women put their efforts together to rebuild the party after 2008. The party attained full stability in 2020 but the actions of the incumbent MP in the run-up to building the party album in 2022 showed how vindictive he is and is ready to trade the unity of the party for his selfish interest and gains. The chickens are gradually coming home to roost. After the year 2000 elections, Yendi did not have a formidable party where all interest groups buried their differences to support one candidate. The incumbent MP enjoyed the full support of all NPP members in the constituency even though he came from the camp of the 2008 saboteurs. The vote difference was not the sole effort of the MP, others contributed. We want to assure all gathered here that the incumbent MP shall not get our support before and on December 7, 2024.
9. Ladies and gentlemen, we wish to repeat that we are disappointed in the decision. It is a wrong decision. It is a dangerous decision that is made to serve the interest of an individual instead of the collective good of the party. We want to state unequivocally that no leader or elder of the New Patriotic Party should dare attempt to reach out to us, especially H.E Alhaji Amin Amadu, Hon Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu, H.E Alhaji Mohammad Habibu Tijani, Alhaji Osman Baba Daney, and Hon Hajia Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakariah. Since NEC has decided to bury the truth and took a whimsical and capricious decision without consulting any of the elders whose names are mentioned above. We have decided to advise ourselves and in due course, we shall lay bare our plans.
God Bless Yendi God Bless Ghana Thank you.
Story By: Alhassan Yakubu |www.diamondfmonline.com |Ghana
