The Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, says some 47 parliamentary aspirants have already been declared candidates for the 2024 general elections.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, he explained that these candidates, who applied to represent the party, were unopposed and thus after passing the vetting the NDC rules stipulate that they are given a direct pass to the 2024 elections.
Hence, he said that parliamentary primaries will not be held in the constituencies of these 47 candidates because they are considered elected candidates.
“We have 47 aspirants who have already been declared candidates for our 2024 elections. We have seen other places where people are contesting unopposed candidates by going to court to seek an injunction to prevent the parliamentary elections. There is not going to be parliamentary elections in those places because our candidates have already been elected by law,” Mr Asiedu noted.
Meanwhile, the NDC Chairman said the primaries would not be conducted in 16 constituencies, stating that these constituencies need special attention.
He said that “the party’s preparation in those constituencies is not complete, so, we have decided to put them on hold. After the main elections, we will appraise each constituency and deal with the specific issues there to pave the way for the elections.”
The NDC primaries will come off on Saturday as scheduled.
This was after flagbearer hopeful, Dr Kwabena Duffour withdrew the suit against the party filed on May 9, following what he says are some discrepancies his team has identified in the party’s voters’ register to be used for the exercise.
An Accra High Court, earlier on Monday, struck out Dr Duffour’s injunction after his lawyers withdrew the case.
