Josuah Alabi
National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer hopefuls Alban Bagbin and Josuah Alabi Monday submitted their presidential nomination forms, officially setting the stage for the scramble of the NDC’s flagbeareship slot.
The submission of the forms is in compliance with line seven of the NDC’s guidelines of the conduct of the election of a presidential candidate of the party.
Former President John Mahama and Sylvester Mensah are also expected to submit his later Monday.
To win 2020; NDC’s soul must be won first – Bagbin
Addressing the NDC’s National Executives after submitting his forms, Bagbin who’s also the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament said he was presenting himself to the party’s delegates as the best person to regain power from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2020.
He said: “As a presidential candidate, I assure you that with your support and prayers and our message of grassroots empowerment and commitment to ending of the cycle of neglect that has plagued those who have saved the party and the country, victory will be ours in 2020.
“I can’t wait for the NDC to get back the power we gave away in 2016. But for us to win election 2020, we must first win the battle for the soul of our party. For us to win election 2020, we must win election 2019 by electing ‘AskBagbin’ in the primaries.”
Pledging to reinvigorate and revitalise the party, he said: “We have a dire need as a party to beat a path back to our roots and to once again hold high the core values and principles that made the NDC the beacon of hope and the party of choice.”
“Let’s once again walk down the path of humility, love, care, kindness, fairness and social justice. There’s an African proverb that admonishes us and as you all know it says and I quote ‘If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there’.
“Fortunately for us, we know where we are going. Our destination is a victory in election 2020. The road to take to victory in election 2020 is to take ‘AskBagbin’ the man you can depend on,” he pointed out.
NDC losing popularity among the youth – Alabi
On his part, Josuah Alabi said he was in the race to offer leadership and give hope to the NDC’s teeming supporters and the country as a whole. According to him, he realized after touring the whole country that the NDC lacks resources.
“It is clear that we really need resources and that’s why people like me with good leadership skills, I have to pay 300,000 Ghana cedis to present myself to lead this party,” he affirmed.
He said that if the party has been administered properly, “flagbearers wouldn’t have to pay anything so that the common man with good ideas can lead this party and the country.”
“I’m afraid for the party,” he said.
Making his claim for the NDC’s flagbearership slot, he said he would make President Akufo-Addo a one-term President.
Touching on the party’s popularity, he said it’s losing touch amongst the youth stating: “The electoral commission had polling stations in 72 tertiary institutions in this country. Out of this 72, the NDC lost 69 and won only three. It is a strong signal.”