The Director of Elections and Research of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Evans Nimako, has assured all prospective presidential candidates that there will be fairness in the process of selecting the party’s flagbearer.
Mr Nimako stressed that the processes involved in picking up nominations and, subsequently, the holding of the presidential primaries would be “fair and transparent”.
He added that the party would not impose any unnecessary restrictions on any person who has the ambition to contest. “As the Director of Elections of this great party, I promise to ensure a free and fair nomination process and internal poll to elect our next presidential candidate,” he assured.
4 pick forms
The NPP Director Elections disclosed that four presidential hopefuls of the NPP had picked forms at the party’s headquarters as at May 26 to contest for the flagbearership race of the party in November this year.
These, he mentioned, were a former Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko; former MP for Asante Mampong, Francis Addai-Nimoh; former NPP General Secretary, Kwabena Agyepong; and a former Minister of State, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku.
Reiterating that the nomination process ends on June 26, he called on all the remaining stalwarts of the NPP who are eyeing the flagbearership of the party to pick up forms.
He, however, urged the would-be presidential aspirants to abide by the rules and regulations set out to guide the upcoming presidential primaries.
Mr Nimako also stressed that it would be in the interest of the NPP for all party members to respect the party’s constitution as it starts the process of selecting its presidential candidate for the 2024 general elections
“I wish to reiterate the point that as national officers of the party, not only are we going to be impartial, but will also ensure a level playing field for all prospective aspirants in the conduct of the presidential primaries. Let’s, therefore, respect the rules of engagement,” he stated
Cautious
Mr Nimako encouraged prominent leaders of the party to be cautious in taking sides with candidates in order to avoid mistrust and malice after the elections. He also advised candidates and their followers to avoid campaign of insult and personal attack.
He further admonished them to desist from indulging in dirty politicking, and avoid being swayed by unscrupulous politicians who do not think well about the success of the party and the government.
He disclosed that measures were being put in place to ensure that the party develops a communication strategy capable of positively influencing the electorate to appreciate the gains made from 2016 through 2020 to the crucial 2024 elections.
Relatedly, earlier in the Friday morning, a group calling itself “Bawumia Fan Club”, led by Eric Kwabena Twumasi, who wanted to pick nomination forms on behalf of the Vice-President, was prevented from obtaining the form on behalf of Dr Bawumia because they had failed to secure an authorisation form from his office before embarking on the move.
Clarifying the issue, the NPP Director of Elections explained that the group was not prevented from picking the forms, but was asked to follow the standard procedure of seeking the consent of the aspirants before any form were picked by any group.