General News of Friday, 14 December 2018

Source: rainbowradioonline.com

NDC leadership yet to receive second petition from aspirants?

NDC Aspirants NDC Aspirants

Information gathered by rainbowradioonline.com indicates that the National Executive Council (NEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has not officially received a petition from some six aspirants demanding for another reduction in the filing fee.

Some six aspirants have reportedly petitioned the NDC’s Council of Elders to again reduce the filling fee from GHc300, 000 to GHc150, 000.

According to aspirants, the reduction of the filing fee from GH¢400,000 to GH¢300,000, following the earlier petition, was not enough.

The six flag bearer aspirants are Alban Bagbin, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Sylvester Mensah, Goosie Tanoh, Alhaji Nurudeen Iddrisu and Stephen Atubiga.

But a source at the party’s headquarters has told rainbowradioonline.com that, the party’s leadership has not received any petition to that effect.

So far, eight individuals are battle ready to contest the party’s presidential primaries slated for January 26, 2019.

They are ex-President John Dramani Mahama, Joshua Alabi, Stephen Atubiga, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Alban Bagbin, Sylvester Mensah, Nurudeen Idrissu, and Goosie Tanoh.

Portions of the statement said the filing should reflect the grassroots social democratic orientation of the NDC.

The candidates are using the GHc50, 000 filing fee charged for 2016 and that of 2012 (GHc100, 000) to support their appeal.

The aspirants are also calling for the date for the submission of the filing forms to be extended by two weeks to enable them to meet with delegates across the 275 constituencies to fill their forms.

The statement also read: the NDC was known to be a party of the masses, and so the pegging of exorbitant filing fees of GH¢400,000 or GH¢300,000 would change the face of the NDC as a party for the elites… the impression would be created that it was only the only the highest bidders who would assume the leadership role of the NDC.