National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer hopeful Alban Bagbin has dissociated himself from the presidential nomination forms picked on his behalf.
“I’m not associated with this. It’s not on my authority and I disregard it,” the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament told Starr News after the forms were picked in his name by some of his constituents led by David Dzawara Baya.
Maintaining that the rush to pick the nomination forms by his colleague flagbearer hopeful is a nullity, Mr. Bagbin told Starr Today’s Atiewin Mbillah Lawson that: “I’m surprised to hear this. I have not authorized any individual or group of people to pick form in my name.”
Picking forms illegal
According to Mr. Bagbin, the failure of the newly elected national executives of the NDC to consult the party’s Council of Elders in deciding the guidelines for the flagbearer contest rendered the entire process illegal.
“We believe that the process that they have put in place is offending a number of our values, principles and even the provisions of our constitution…and so we have put that across and we are awaiting the response of the Council of elders,” he told Starr News’ Regina Borley Bortey earlier Tuesday.
“There’s a legal issue there. A legal issue that we believed has rendered all the process null and void. It is very clear in our constitution that the guidelines for the flagbearership race will have to be done in consultation with the Council of elders.
“We know that. And so, if you don’t do that and you proceed to do what you know is unlawful it means that all that process is null and void.
“And that’s the difficulty in going to pick the forms because we ourselves will be participating in an unlawful process. That’s the main reason why I am not picking the forms,” he added.
Meanwhile, Stephen Atubiga and Sylvester Mensah have also picked forms to contest the presidential primaries of the party.
It brings the number of candidates who have so far picked forms to contest the race to five after former President John Mahama and Professor Joshua Alabi picked theirs earlier.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmoline.com/103.5FM
