A disqualified National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary candidate in the Tamale South Constituency, Professor Bawa Abdul Fatawu, has vowed to fight the decision by the vetting committee till his last breath.
According to him, the party constitution supersedes the guidelines hence, the vetting committee had no right to use the guidelines to disqualify him.
He alleges that, the members of the vetting committee acted rudely and disrespectful when he appeared before the committee on Monday April 3, 2023. “The committee was so bias, and they were disrespectful towards me”, he stated.
Professor Bawa Abdul Fatawu an educationist, who was contesting the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) Lawyer Haruna Iddrisu was disqualified by the Northern Regional vetting committee.
“Nobody is going unopposed in Tamale South. We will fight it. We will go all out to make sure that there is no unopposed. This year, it will not happen. No matter how far it will travel, even at the Supreme Court, we will challenge it. We will challenge the vetting committee. I have not given them the petition. I have asked them to give me the rolling in writing. They should provide me the rolling in writing and we will pick it from there. We are not living it anywhere. If they think this will be the end of the road, then they need to come again. This is only the begginning of the game”, he warned.
“There shouldn’t be discrimination in NDC. When it is a particular seat, people are not qualified but in some other seats elsewhere people are allowed to go. The party should sit up. Tamale South cannot be somebody’s property,” he added.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has given the incumbent MP for the Tamale South Constituency, Lawyer Haruna Iddrisu, the green light to represent the party in the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, the Northern Regional vetting committee on their report indicated that, Professor Bawa Abdul Fatawu, had failed to meet Article 41(8)(b) of the party’s constitution which states that, “A member shall not be qualified to contest the primaries for a parliamentary seat if the person is not an active member of the party at the constituency level for the four years immediately preceding the date of filing nomination.”
The committee added that Bawa Abdul Fatawu, had admitted to the committee that his membership had fallen short of the NDCs guidelines for the elections of parliamentary candidate of the party.
The committee also explained that, the educationist had not been an active member of the party for up to four years before filing to contest on its ticket.
“It will be recalled that your defense to these queries after making the above-cited admissions was that the provisions in article 41(8)(b) of the NDC constitution supersede what is contained in the party’s guidelines for vetting its parliamentary candidates.
“Consequently, you contended that, per your understanding of article 41(8)(b) of the party’s constitution, a person qualifies if he can prove that he has been a member of the party ‘within’ a period of four years prior to filing to contest on the ticket of the party”, the committee noted.
The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is expected to hold its flagbearer and parliamentary primaries on Saturday May 13, 2023.
Story By: Alhassan Yakubu |www.diamondfmonline.com |Ghana.
