The Walewale Constituency Secretariat of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has dismissed claims by the constituency chairman of the party that stakeholders of the NPP have reaffirmed the declaration of Dr. Kabiru Tia Mahama as the party’s parliamentary candidate for the constituency.

According to the Secretariat, no such decision was taken at the said meeting purportedly held on Thursday, May 2.

The Walewale Constituency Chairman of the NPP, Mohammed Janda Muniru, announced in a statement on Thursday that stakeholders of the party had reaffirmed the declaration of Dr. Mahama at a crucial meeting in Walewale the same day.

He claimed that the patrons and council of elders of the party in the constituency were tasked with engaging the MP for Walewale, Hajia Zuwera Lariba Abudu, to prioritize the interests of the party over her personal interests and resolve the electoral dispute in the interest of party unity and coherence.

However, a counter-statement signed by Wuni Yidana, the Constituency Secretary of the NPP, on Friday, May 3, urged the general public to disregard the statement issued by the constituency chairman because no such decision was reached at the purported meeting.

“I wish to state in no uncertain terms that no decision was ever reached at the said meeting, in which the stakeholders purportedly reaffirmed the declaration of Dr. Kabiru Mahama as our party’s candidate for our constituency,” he said.

Mr. Yidana claimed the conduct of the constituency chairman was in contempt of court as the matter was still pending before the Tamale High Court.

He said the action of the chairman could militate against the amicable out-of-court settlement as ordered by the Tamale High Court.

The Constituency Secretary added, “I wish to state that the conduct of the Constituency Chairman is contemptuous as our Constituency Parliamentary Primaries is a subject matter of litigation still pending before the High Court in Tamale, and an act which will seriously militate against the amicable settlement of the matter as the Court has given our great party up to May 23, 2024, to report back to the Court."

He urged the leadership of the NPP to “do everything possible to take the opportunity given to the party by the court to resolve the matter seriously and enroll all the stakeholders on board in order to come out with an outcome that will resolve the lingering issue and bring all hands on deck to ensure that we win the upcoming general elections emphatically for the presidential candidate and whoever that would eventually be declared as our parliamentary candidate.”