Atubiga pulls out of NDC flagbearer race; declares support for Mahama
A presidential hopeful of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Stephen Atubiga, has announced his withdrawal from the party’s upcoming presidential primaries.
Mr. Stephen Atubiga communicated his decision to the leadership of the NDC through a letter he sent to the General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu, who read the letter on Tuesday.
He has also declared his support for former President John Mahama who has already filed his nomination to contest in the primaries in January 2019.
“Having submitted myself to counsel, prayers and direction, I wish to withdraw from the NDC flagbearer election ahead of the 2020 election. I have decided to throw my weight behind His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, I want to personally thank my brother Haruna Iddrisu for his wise counsel and brotherly advice and counsel. My gratitude to the party and council of elders for their intervention and role played regarding the upcoming flagbearer race of the great NDC party. In my lengthy discussion with Mr. Mahama, I can confidently say that his vision matches mine. He gave me an assurance of pulling the party along, building party offices in the constituencies, creating jobs and empowering the youth” parts of Atubiga’s letter read.
“If I Stephen Atubiga could go to prison for John Mahama to be President, it is for the love of the party. I can with no hesitation sacrifice my ambition for him to win us power come 2020 for the love of the party. Running for this flagbearership position are many very able and committed men. Their position may be varied, but their hearts and ideas are all to move the party and the country forward. I wish them all the best of luck, and hope that they will all come out stronger than ever after this election. The NDC stands tall at the end of the day”.
Atubiga, who wasn’t considered by many as a serious contender, paid an amount of Ghc20,000 for the nomination forms which is non-refundable. It is however unclear whether the withdrawal is largely due to his inability to pay the Ghc300,000 filing fee.
The filing of nomination forms closes today, December 18, 2018, and so far John Mahama, Joshua Alabi, Alban Bagbin, Sylvester Men and Goosie Tanoh, have all filed their nominations.
Atubiga joins the likes of Kojo Bonsu, Elikplim Agbemava and Kwaku Ricketts Hagan who have also pulled out of the race.
In a press statement copied to citinewsroom, Elikplim Agbemava, the young lawyer who was not tipped to make any inroads in the race, said he was not going to pick nomination forms.
While failing to give exact reasons for his decision, Mr. Agbemava admitted that the decision was “much unexpected,” having given strong indications much earlier that he was ready to battle it out with eight other hopefuls to lead the party into the 2020 presidential polls.
There are suggestions Elikplim Agbemava could not raise the nomination and filing fee of Ghc320,00, despite the slight reduction in the amount.
He urged his supporters to join him throw their weight behind former President John Mahama to lead the party and wrestle power from the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The NDC will hold its presidential primaries on January 26, after an intervention from the Council of Elders pushed it from January 19, 2018.
source: citinewsroom