The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has justified the disqualification of Michael Nii Yarboi Annan from contesting the parliamentary primary in the Odododiodio Constituency.

The leadership of the NDC said the decision to disqualify the said aspirant was taken by the Functional Executive Committee (FEC), acting on the findings and recommendations of the special committee that was set up to investigate the matter.

This, it said, was followed by consultations with the political committee of the party.

“On the issue of the eligibility of Michael Nii Yarboi Annan, the committee made several key findings which were worth highlighting,” a statement signed by the General Secretary of the party, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, said.

It said the committee discovered that Mr Annan was formerly a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who contested and lost the NPP parliamentary primary in the Odododiodio Constituency in September 2019.

During interactions with the constituency executive members, it said a few of them expressed dissatisfaction with an ex-NPP member like Mr Annan being allowed to contest in the NDC parliamentary primary when he did not meet the mandatory four-year membership requirement.

“The committee found that Mr Annan had financially supported the election campaign of most of the constituency executive members during the 2022 constituency elections, including some of the executives who are now opposed to him.

“The committee also found that Mr Annan had financially supported several NDC party activities in the Odododiodio Constituency with the endorsement of the Member of Parliament and members of the Constituency Executive Committee,” it said. 

Discussion

“The committee found that the “NDC Laryea House Branch” register contains the name of Mr Annan as having been registered as a member of the NDC in 2019.

A careful examination of the register showed no signs of cancellation or substitution. 

Neither is there any evidence that shows that the register has been tampered with.

It said the committee was at a loss as to how a 2019 NDC membership card could bear an EC Voter ID card number of 2020.

“When questioned about this, Mr Annan said the ID anomalies were not due to his actions, as the NDC registration card was presented to him by the constituency chairman”.

Again, it said the committee also found that Mr Annan had one of the new NDC membership cards, but that card had no slot for the date of issuance.

Effectively, it said there was nothing on the face of the card to indicate when it was issued.

“Despite Mr Annan’s claim of joining the NDC in 2019, evidence was adduced to show that he was still publicly associating with the NPP after 2019,” it said. 

Source: GraphicOnline