The entire constituency executives of the ruling New Patriotic Party in Gushegu constituency in the Northern Region have appealed to President Akufo-Addo to prevail upon the National Appeals Committee to reverse the disqualification of Mr. Mahama Osman as a parliamentary aspirant in the party’s impending primaries.
In a petition dated 15th April 2020 and signed by the Constituency Chairman, Mohammed Majeed, 1st Vice Chairman, Abdulai Alhassan , 2nd Vice Chairman, Adam Waja, the Constituency Secretary, Mohammed Inusah as well as the other members, they said “we the entire members of the constituency executive committee and all the membership of the constituency council of elders and patrons, chiefs, opinion leaders and youths across the constituency wish to appeal to you and our dear party in particular, to prevail upon the National Appeals Committee to re-instate Mr. Mahama Osman”.
According to them, the decision by the National Parliamentary Vetting Committee to avoid primaries in the Gushegu constituency is the worst and most dangerous decision to be taken, especially at a time when going in for the primaries will be safer for party in the constituency than no primaries.
“When this decision by the National Parliamentary Vetting Committee stands, the constituency will be given a journey on a super high way at a supersonic speed to losing it (the seat) to the opposition National Democratic Congress candidate”, they argued.
Giving background to the impasse, the constituency executives said their attention was drawn to a press release by the National Parliamentary Vetting Committee-Northern Region, on various social media platforms and on TV 3 news regarding the disqualification of Mr Mahama Osman after the vetting.
They said following the publication of the press release, Mr. Mahama Osman appealed against his disqualification and subsequently appeared before the National Appeals Committee.
“In as much as we respected the decision of the National Parliamentary Vetting Committee regarding our constituency, we totally disagreed with that decision”, they maintained.
According to the executives, “the threats of voting skirt and blouse by the party supporters from our strongholds reaching us since this unpopular decision came to the public domain has been scary and we the constituency executives who are on the ground and are witnessing these developments will not remain quite for the regrettable thing to happen before we begin to throw accusing fingers at one another at a time when it will be too late for everybody”.
They told the President in the petition that “the party supporters from our strongholds call for nothing but primaries so that whoever wins on a free and fair contest will become what the whole constituency has decided and all will rally behind the winning candidate so that together and with a united front campaign in all the four corners of our constituency to retain the seat”.
They said the call to have primaries in the constituency is a call by the entire constituency including chiefs, opinion leaders, youths, insisting that to deny them this glorious opportunity to express their democratic rights as owners of the party at the grassroots level will therefore result in a castatrophy in a proportion that will be unimaginable.
Polling Station Chairman
Meanwhile, sixty six (66) out of ninety nine (99) polling station chairman t of the Gushegu Constituency, in a separate petition to President Akufo-Addo, have registered their displeasure about the disqualification of Mr. Mahama Osman in the upcoming parliamentary primaries.
“We want to first and foremost extend our warmest felicitations to Your Excellency. We are most fortunate to have you as the President of the land. May your regime be blissfully enjoyable”, they noted.
According to them, however, “there is a divisive issue in this our Gushegu parliamentary primary which should not escape your attentive eyes. Our popular and dedicated candidate, Mr. Mahama Osman, was reportedly disqualified under strange circumstances. With the knowledge of your impeccable democratic credentials, we strived very hard to persuade our disenchanted members that the said disqualification would be rectified and that it did not have your tacit approval”.
They said despite their unshakable believe that the said disqualification would be resolved with dispatch, “our constituency is now surrounded by a thick cloud of electoral uncertainty”.
They noted that failure to quickly resolve the disqualification impasse would have serious ramifications on our great party, adding that threats of impending protest voting are already rife in the air.
“Your Excellency, it is for this reason that we wholeheartedly appeal to you, Your Excellency, to personally intervene to have parliamentary primary to be conducted in Gushegu constituency for a popular candidate to be selected”, they concluded.
The petition was also copied to the Vice President, Dr Bawumia, NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay, the
Regional Chairman as well as Constituency Chairman.
Electoral area Coordinators
Adding their voices to the call to reinstate Mahama Osman, eighteen (18) out of the twenty five (25) Electoral Area Coordinators of the constituency have also called on the party to immediately reverse the decision to disqualify Mahama Osman from the parliamentary primaries.
They said this would pave the way for smooth conduct of the exercise devoid of tension and disunity to enable the constituency to elect a winnable candidate for the party, failure to which will lead to a dreadful electoral misfortune to both the imposed parliamentary candidate and by extension the presidential candidate as well.
The petition dated April 13, 2020, and signed by the eighteen (18) Electoral Area Coordinators was copied to President Akufo-Addo, NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay, NPP General Secretary, John Boadu, NPP National Disciplinary Committee Chairman, Northern Regional Chairman of NPP as well as the Gushegu constituency Chairman of the NPP.
According to the petitioners, if the matter is not resolved immediately, it will derail the party’s chances of retaining the Gushegu parliamentary seat for the party.
“It is an understatement to contend that there is a heavy cloud of electoral uncertainty in our constituency as far as the organization of NPP party activities are concerned”, they asserted, adding that “our dedicated party supporters are haranguing with painful disenchantments relative to the unpopular disqualification”.
The statement said it is unfair to attempt to forcefully impose a parliamentary candidate on the constituency, no matter how highly placed the aspirant may be.
According to them, such a forceful imposition against all odds and advice could only work to effect a very unpleasantly dire and electoral misfortune against the party.
They appealed to the National Executives to immediately reverse the decision and reinstate Mr Mahama Osman to avoid open verbal abuses from the core supporters and to retain the seat for the NPP.
Stay tuned!
