Some Polling Station Executives and Electoral Area Coordinators of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at Abirem constituency have sent a strong caution to the leadership of their party to rescind its decision on imposing a parliamentary candidate on the constituency.

According to the group, if the party defies their petition, they would exhibit a stiff apathy in the next 2020 general elections.

The group alleged that some Constituency and Regional Executive members deliberately disqualified some two aspirants who showed up to contest the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Hon. John Osei Frimpong.

At a press briefing on Wednesday at Abirim, spokesperson of the concerned Polling Station Executives and Electoral Area Coordinators, who doubled as Polling Station Secretary for the Hwaekwae Electoral Area, Patrick Annin hinted that the party risked disaffection from constituents if leadership refused to listen to the grassroots.

He called on the party's leadership to allow for a healthy contest in the Abirim constituency elections.

"There is a seeming karbal determined to unjustly eliminate two main parliamentary candidate aspirants from the Abirim parliamentary primaries namely, Mr. Frank Ahemah Mireku and Ing. Daniel Kwadwo Afrifa.

"What we the concerned polling station executives are seeking for is a fair-playing ground and we insist the party should allow contest in the constituency," Patrick Annin stressed.

He posited that, the NPP is a democratic party that believes in the principle of rule of law hence the national executives must grant the Abirem Constituency a contest in order to foster unity at the grassroots.

Patrick Annon added that President Akufo-Addo, before he became President, faced key contests from 2007 till 2015 in the party’s presidential primaries before he was made the party's presidential candidate and won the 2016 general elections.

"For the records, Mr. Osei Frimpong contested Hon. Esther Obeng Dapaah who was a sitting MP and Minister of Mines and Forestry. At the time, no constituency, regional or national officer disqualified Mr Osei Frimpong from contesting a Minister of State and a cabinet member," Patrick noted

He was baffled why Mr. Osei Frimpong was given a level playing field to contested Hon. Esther Obeng Dapaah three consecutive times but does not want anyone to contest him.

Patrick Annin called on the NPP leadership to take lessons from the 2008 elections where many parliamentary aspirants were roughly disqualified, fueling a party and loss of some parliamentary seats noted to be the party's seat and subsequent defeat in the general election.

"We pray that we manage this primaries well in order to avoid disaffection in the general elections because we believe that when we have a contest, and whoever wins, will bring all of us together to increase the margin of votes between NPP and the NDC," Annin cautioned.

Meanwhile, the NPP national Headquarters has issued a release to indicate the cancellation of the primaries in all constituencies across the country until further notice, following the extension of the ban on public gatherings to curtail the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ghana.