A political analyst, Dr Jonathan Asante Otchere, has described the confirmation of Farouk Aliu Mahama as the parliamentary candidate for Yendi by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as an affront to the democracy of the party.
He argued the party may have settled on Farouok given that his father served as Vice President of Ghana, not because he actually won the poll.
The NPP’s NEC took the decision to confirm him in a crunch meeting in Accra on Tuesday, April 9.
The Yendi constituency parliamentary elections were marred by violence leading to both candidates in the election declaring themselves as winners of the race.
The other parliamentary candidate aspirant Hajia Abibata Shanni Mahama accused the Electoral Commission officials and Farouk Aliu Mahama, of rigging the Saturday, January 27, internal polls.
Hajia Abibata also raised concerns over the party’s 3rd National Vice Chairman, Alhaji Masahudu Osman, for “purportedly” confirming Mr. Aliu Mahama as the parliamentary candidate-elect for the constituency.
“Counting of ballot papers in the 2024 Yendi Parliamentary Election was profoundly and fiercely interrupted and halted due to a deliberate attempt by some Electoral Commission officials to manipulate the figures and overturn the verdict in favor of the incumbent MP, Farouk Aliu Mahama.
“The Electoral Commission officials whether by miscalculation or by design during the counting of the ballot papers in the full glare of party supporters jumped the count from 69 straight to 80 which was his first attempt to increase the votes of my opponent by 10 more,” portions of a statement by Abibata Shanni read.
The statement affirmed that there were attacks that disrupted the counting process, leading to the shredding of some ballots in the full glare of observers. This resulted in the police intervening to restore order.
According to Abibata, both parliamentary candidates were asked to leave the counting premises, only for Mr. Aliu Mahama to be subsequently announced as the parliamentary candidate-elect.
The Electoral Commission (EC) also denied declaring any candidate as the winner of that election.
But the NPP’s NEC has settled on Farouk Aliu Mahama to go ahead s the candidate
Speaking on this matter on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Tuesday, April 9, Dr Jonathan Asante Otchere said “Certainly, you could see that it is more of a political expediency on the part of the party as it were to to allow Farouk to go ahead. You have to also understand that sometimes political expediency could help but at other times it could lead to some kind of unenvisaged conflict and think that is what is likely to happen.
“I can foresee where the woman is coming from, She is occupying a very juicy position and for now, since the party is still in government she doesn’t want to rock the boat.
“Because this is someone whose father was one time the Vice President, it means that he has more clout in the party than her.
“I see the decision as an affront to democracy, it is quite unfortunate. For now, you might have been able to solve a particular problem but what about the followers of the woman, are you sure you will be able to pacify them.”