By Edward Acquah
Accra. Nov. 2, GNA- All four presidential aspirants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have signed an undertaking to accept the results of the upcoming presidential primaries.
The aspirants have also agreed not to resign from the Party if they lose the elections and support the eventual winner of the contest.
They signed the agreement at a meeting convened by the NPP’s National Council of Elders in Accra on Thursday.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo attended the meeting in person.
The presidential aspirants are; Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, Francis Addai-Nimoh, a former Member of Parliament MP for Mampong, and Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, a former Minister of Food and Agriculture.
A total of 204,144 delegates of the NPP are expected to vote in the Party’s presidential primaries scheduled for Saturday, November 4, 2023.
The primaries will be held in 277 voting centres across the country under the supervision of the NPP’s Constituency Presidential Election Committee.
Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, the Chairman of the NPP’s Presidential Elections Committee, told journalists after the National Council meeting that the undertaking signed by the presidential aspirants is “morally binding” and described it as a “gentleman’s agreement.”
He said the aspirants who contested the Party’s August 26 Super Delegates Congress, which reduced the number of aspirants to five, did not sign an undertaking ahead of that election.
Mr Alan Kyerematen, who placed third in the Super Delegates Congress, has resigned from the NPP to form his own party.
Mr Justin Kodua Frimpong, the General Secretary of the NPP, told journalists that the Party had prepared adequately for the primaries, adding that the meeting with the aspirants was very fruitful.
He said delegates in Sunyani East will not participate in upcoming presidential primaries unless a court injunction placed on the election in that constituency was lifted before Saturday.
He advised all delegates to adhere to the guidelines issued by the Party to make the primaries peaceful and successful.
“There will be no congregation on the voting day. Delegates will not be allowed to enter the voting booths in groups or in pairs. The EC and the police will enforce the rules,” Mr Frimpong said.
Mr Stephen Ayesu Ntim, the National Chairman of the NPP, said the party was mindful of events leading to the 2008 presidential elections, where, he said, apathy and lack of cohesion caused the NPP to lose at the polls.
He said the party’s leadership would take a tough stance against indiscipline and ensure that the party remained unified after the presidential primaries.
“We must guard against any misconduct likely to take us on the path of apathy,” Mr Ntim said.
The delegates who will vote in the NPP’s presidential primaries comprise all members of the National Council, National, Regional and Constituency Executive Committees, Electoral Area Coordinators, five polling station executives in each polling station (Chairman, Secretary, Organiser, Youth and Women Organisers.
There will be a final declaration of the results at the Accra Sports Stadium, where President Akufo-Addo will officially hand over the leadership of the Party to the elected flag bearer.
GNA