Aspiring Presidential Hopeful of the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC, Dr Kwabena Duffuor has pulled out from the Presidential race of the party after withdrawing his case against the party from the court.
The NDC delegates across the country will Saturday vote to elect Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries.
According to him, his decision to pull out from the race was based on advice from his campaign team bothering on discrepancies in the photo album furnished by the leadership of the NDC overseeing the presidential primaries.
In a statement, he noted that “After that, I have engaged with the team working for my bid in the elections, and have communicated my decision to withdraw from the contest to lead the NDC in the 2024 presidential election”.
He examined that “As a result, I want to take this opportunity to inform the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and my supporters of my decision to withdraw from the contest”.
“I want to thank the teeming supporters who believe in my message and stood behind me. I want to assure them that my decision is for the good of the party and to assure them of my unflinching support for the victory of the NDC in the 2024 elections. I wish the party well, and I wish all parliamentary aspirants the very best in tomorrow’s elections,” he stated.
The former Minister for Finance, Dr Duffuor, and Kojo Bonsu, former Mayor of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly are contesting former President John Mahama, who is showing up for the third time.
Dr Duffuor on Friday filed for a discontinuance of the writ he filed against the Saturday, May 13, 2023, presidential primaries.
Dr Duffuor on Tuesday, May 9, filed an interlocutory injunction to bar the NDC and the Electoral Commission from holding the primaries pending the production of a complete photo album register and the delivery of same to him at least five weeks ahead of the election.
According to the plaintiff, data from only 220 out of the 275 constituencies had been verified. An exceptional list of 74,799 he adds has been created which cannot also be verified because of scanty information.
“For no credible reason, 3,910 eligible voters at the 220 constituencies have been disenfranchised,” Dr Duffuor’s writ read in parts.
Dr Duffuor had earlier complained of some discrepancies in the party’s voter register and called on the National Executive of the party to postpone the upcoming primaries, but the party stated that the primaries will proceed accordingly.
As a result of the suit, the Electoral Commission (EC) announced that it will not supervise the upcoming primaries until all outstanding legal disputes were resolved.
BY Daniel Bampoe