Bugri Naabu
The Northern Regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has stated that the vice presidential candidate of the party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, never gave even a single cedi to any electoral officer as alleged by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
According to him, he and others came to Walewale with Dr. Bawumia and were moving to Nasiya for a funeral when a gentleman was sent to go and check if he could verify him (Bawumia) but when the gentleman got there, they were about closing from the funeral.
“He never gave anybody even one cedi. This is NDC propaganda; the entire allegation is never true,” he said.
In a follow-up press statement by the Walewale constituency of the NPP, the party said the NDC cooked up the allegation for obvious reasons.
“It is obvious for many neutral observers of the Ghanaian political landscape that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has become a thorn in the flesh of the ruling NDC and that the NDC for several months and years, has sought all manner of schemes and claims in an attempt to soil the image of Dr. Bawumia but have failed miserably.
“These schemes culminated in the president desperately urging Mamprusis not to vote for the NPP because of Dr. Bawumia, as he has realised that the popularity of Dr. Bawumia has reached higher levels in Mamprugu, the North and Ghana as a whole, more than ever,” the statement, signed by Simon Ali Walewale, the constituency secretary, said.
The statement pointed out that Dr Bawumia never got verified in his family house as suggested by the NDC but rather moved out to get verified as the process demands, adding that “This latest creation is yet another scheme by the NDC against Dr.Mahamudu Bawumia and which like all the earlier ones, has failed.”
The NPP explained that the vice presidential candidate went to his family house where he was informed that the EC officers had come to verify him at home as the clouds had gathered and it was likely it could start raining.
“Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia however, declined this offer and rather decided to proceed to the polling centre, which is outside the family house (very close). When Dr. Bawumia came out of his family house to get verified, he met the two EC officers moving to seek shelter since the clouds had gotten darker. Dr. Bawumia was therefore verified where he met the officers – just adjacent to where the polling centre had been set up, and not in his residence; not even by its gate.
“The latest thing the NDC has rolled out is a totally false claim, bordering on hallucinations, that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia got Electoral Commission officers at the Kperiga polling centre to come and verify his details in the voter register at his family residence. This, we wish to state emphatically, is false,” it said.
EC Officers Sacked
Some two EC officers at the Walewale District office, who allegedly sent the voter register to Dr. Bawumia’s house – Jobey Ambrose and Mumuni Latifa – were sacked after the NDC had championed the said falsehood.
There were speculations that they took GH¢10,000 from Dr Bawumia.
The NDC executives in the Walewale Constituency are asking for a harsher punishment for the two, other than a mere dismissal.
Walewale Constituency communications officer of the NDC, Imoro Abdul Razak, said his outfit had information that the opposition NPP had plans in the district to influence the verification process.
However, the outspoken NPP regional chairman, Daniel Bugri, indicated that President Mahama and the NDC had already created problems for Ghanaians and that he (Mahama) is a northerner and so people should vote for him. “We are not ready to listen to that as far as NPP and the Northern Region are concern,” he said.
Mr Daniel Bugri stated that Ghanaians will vote for someone who is capable and competent, in the person of Nana Addo, to lead the country to prosperity on December 7, assuring the NPP and Nana Addo of winning the 31 seats in the region.
He cautioned the Northern Regional Minister to put a stop to the alleged sharing of guns and bullets to party supporters.
Chairman Bugri said the case had been referred to the Tamale police and that he trusts the police would investigate the matter properly.
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale