Filed by: Hafiz Timbile
Member of Parliament (MP) for Nandom Constituency and Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, will go solo in the 27th January Primaries of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) following the disapproval of his only contender, Mr. Alois Mohl.
Mr. Mohl who picked and filed his nomination forms at the Party’s National Secretariat was adjudged not to be a member of the NPP by the Vetting Committee on Thursday, January 4, 2024, and is therefore not qualified to participate in the primaries.
According to Dr. Dauda Tanko, the Regional Secretary of the ruling NPP, the Vetting Committee upheld that Mr. Mohl forfeited his membership after he could not adequately respond to allegations that he campaigned against the Party’s parliamentary candidate for the Nandom Constituency in 2012, 2016 and 2020 general elections.
It will be recalled that Alois Mohl was served notice in a 14th December, 2023 letter signed by the Nandom Constituency Secretary, Wuoyang Martin, asking him to refrain from associating himself with the NPP. The letter specifically demanded he should “refrain from the use of the Party’s logo or its colours [in his] social media publications and official correspondence”.
This letter was not responded to which subsequently led to his disqualification, as the Regional Secretary explained that his failure to respond to the forfeiture was a subtle indication that he is guilty of the accusations, and hence accepted the forfeiture claims.
Meanwhile, the disqualified aspirant has indicated that he will appeal the decision of the Vetting Committee as he believes it was preconceived and without merit. Mr. Mohl said he will first use the Party’s internal structures, and possibly the court, to ensure an overturn of the decision and get him on the ballot to contest the primaries.
He believes the “ill-conceived” decision was orchestrated by persons who do not want the incumbent MP to be contested. He is however confident that he will contest and win the 27th January primaries in the constituency to represent the Party in the 2024 General elections.
In a related development, the Vetting Committee of the NPP has given approval to three other aspirants to compete in the Lambussie and Sissala East constituencies. They are Dr. Bright Yelviel-Dong Baligi (MP) for the Lambussie Constituency and Issahaku Chinnia (MP) and Dr. Joshua Jebuntie Zaato for the Sissala East Constituency. The NPP will hold primaries on the 27th of January, 2024 across the country to elect parliamentary candidates for constituencies where it has sitting Members of Parliament.
