Hudu Yahaya is a man of integrity — Aide

An aide to Hudu Yahaya, a national chairman aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Benjamin Avornyotse, has said Mr Yahaya’s integrity among other rare qualities places him above all contenders to lead the party to victory in the 2020 general election. He observed Mr.Yahaya is  a very competent person, a unifier, a firm believer in pragmatic politics and a results-oriented person who lived and practised the values of truth, accountability and integrity. “He towers above pettiness and factionalism and is a committed and loyal stalwart who the NDC needs at this period when the party is in opposition to steer it to victory in 2020”, Mr Avornyotse said in a media interview in Accra. Reacting to some tribal comments made about Mr. Yahaya’s candidature, Mr Avornyotse dismissed claims that Mr Yahaya, a northerner who is vying for the chairmanship slot will not augur well for the party since former President John Dramani Mahama, a northerner is also contesting for the flagbearer of the party. He argued the two personalities are still aspirants whose fates are yet to be decided by the delegates of the party and that such a discourse was premature. Tribal twist bouncing into the party’s discourse “There has been some conversation out there as to whether we can have a northern–northern ticket at this time looking at the fact that former President Mahama is also vying for the flag bearer position,” he remarked. But he postulates that “interestingly, it’s not the same position that they are vying for and I think the conversation in the NDC now should focus on the competency and track record of the candidates rather than the regional and tribal twist that is bouncing into the party’s discourse.” Drawing on historical antecedents, Mr Avornyotse posited that the NDC, since 1992 has had similar situations where it had Dr Kwabena Adjei who hailed from the South as chairman and Prof. John Mills also from the South as the flag bearer. He however maintained that the pairing of persons of the same regional extraction at the chairmanship or flagbearer position of the party had never been the focus for the NDC. Track record He explained, the NDC is a national party with a wider representation of Ghanaians, adding that “so we should be discussing what has been the track record of Mr Yahaya when he was the General Secretary and Vice Chairman of the party during which he delivered the required results.” Stressing his position further, he pointed out that political parties were formed to win elections and for that matter the immediate focus ought to be on who had the track record of delivering the required results. “If you check the periods within which he served as General Secretary, the party had chalked up victory together with Issifu Ali who was then the chairman,” he emphasised. Throwing more light on the qualities of Mr Yahaya, he described him as a true cadre and someone who has gone through the mill and has been engaging in political party activism, especially within the NDC for a while. He recollected that in 2014 when the party went to congress in Kumasi, a similar issue came up and as somebody who believed in compromise decided that he was not going to contest the position and stepped down but this time around, he was running and very committed to the process. By 3news.com|Ghana]]>