The Upper East Regional Communication Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Jonathan Abdallah Salifu, has alleged that the New Patriotic Party’s delegates in the region have been camped ahead of the Super Delegates Conference.
According to him, they have been camped by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who is in the race with nine others.
This, he noted, is to prevent other NPP presidential aspirants from having access to the delegates and to also influence their decisions.
“In the upper East Region, they are holding the super delegates at BTU, and camping starts today because the delegates are people the camp of the vice president believe if they leave them, others will get them last minute, so they have to camp them or restrict them, and that is what they are doing; they have already booked hotels” He stated
“If you want, just pretend to be Allan or any of the candidates, like the Agriculture Minister`s coordinator, and try to be looking for the delegates from tomorrow; you won’t find them.” The communication officer added
He noted that though the vice president’s winning the super delegates election in the region was not in question, the camping, he understands, was to whip in members he believes are supporting other candidates.
“The highest number of votes out of the 36 Alan can get is 7, and for Kennnedy Aygpong, the highest he can get will be three votes; the rest of the votes will go to Bawumia, there is no doubt about that.”
According to him, most of the super delegates, especially appointees, are being forced to support the vice president, and that has given him the upper hand over others.
He made these assertions when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio`s Daybreak Upper East show in the lead-up to the NPP super delegates conference scheduled for August 26, 2023.
The Deputy Regional Communication Officer of the Governing New Patriotic Party, Andrew Atariwini, who was in the show with him in response, said he does not have facts to support the above assertions by the NDC’s communication officer.
He, however, debunked his assertion that delegates are being compelled to support the candidacy of the vice president, arguing that his own charisma is what is gaining him support.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Ghana
