Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye
Member of Parliament (MP) for Odododiodio, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has decided not to contest in the upcoming National Democratic Congress (NDC) primaries of the constituency.
Thus, Mr. Vanderpuye did not file his nomination for the primaries which will determine who represents the NDC in the 2024 general elections.
So far, three aspirants have filed their nominations to contest the primaries scheduled for Tuesday, October 31, said Nii Adjebu Lamptey, NDC’s Elections Committee Chairman.
He advised the supporters of the three aspirants to be circumspect about their utterances during the campaigns.
According to him, it’s an internal contest and they must therefore comport themselves during the period.
“NDC members and supporters, what we are doing now is internal competition, and we pray that all of them will comport themselves so that we can have a peaceful election.
“The filing of nominations has been very peaceful, and we expect that it will continue like that. On Friday there will be vetting at the regional party office, and on October 31, the elections will come on as planned,” he said.
Nii Lantey Vanderpuye first entered Parliament in 2013 after beating the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Victor Okaikoi in the 2012 general elections.
Mr. Vanderpuye was quite confident about his chances of winning, famously stating in November 2012 that if he got less than 65% of the vote, he would concede the seat to Okaikoi.
In the end, Vanderpuye won by a smaller landslide than expected, with 45,967 votes (63%) against 26,269 (36%) for Okaikoi and 745 (1%) for Emmanuel Odoi of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
In December 2016, he was retained as the Member of Parliament for the Odododiodio Constituency with 36,606 votes, representing 57.04% against his closest contender, who had 26,671 votes, representing 41.56%.
He also served as a former Minister of Sports.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri