Hundreds of New Patriotic Party (NPP) supporters in the Sagnarigu Constituency have traveled far and near to support Madam Felicia Tetteh to submit her nomination forms to become the party’s 2024 Parliamentary candidate.
They are giving their massive support to the parliamentary aspirant to snatch the seat from the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The party enthusiasts included the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shani Alhassan Shaibu, some NPP Regional and Constituency executives from Sagnarigu and other parts of the region, former executives, polling station executives and electoral area coordinators among other stalwarts of the governing party.
Mr. Francis Tetteh, spouse of the aspirant among other family members also attended the colourful event to witness the process, which was characterised with nostalgia on Friday.
There was almost a stampede at the constituency office as a result of the massive turnout and a complete traffic jam on the Tamale–Nyankpala highway as vehicular movement was impeded.
Secretary to the Sagnarigu Elections Committee, Mr. Abdul Rahaman Ridwan, in an interview said the aspirant presented the required documentations and information stipulated in the party’s guidelines for the primaries and the committee was satisfied to clear her to contest the elections.
He however used the opportunity to appeal to all sympathisers of the party to be decorous before, during and after the internal contest as there would not be victors and vanquish at the end of the day, adding the bigger picture is to win the seat for the New Patriotic Party in 2024.
Madam Felicia Tetteh is the second female candidate in the Northern Region to have filed their nominations in the nine orphan constituencies to contest the NPP Parliamentary elections.
The first female candidate was Hajia Fathia Abdul Aziz who also submitted her forms earlier in the week to contest the Savelugu primaries.
Addressing the gathering, Felicia Tetteh thanked the constituents for the massive support during the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
The Aspirant noted the outcome of the last polls in which she had over 26,000 votes demonstrated that the people of Sagnarigu are yearning for change in their representation in Parliament.
Mrs. Tetteh said politics is about bringing the needed development to ameliorate the suffering of the people and that the NDC over the years has failed to live up to expectation despite the electorate voting for the party.
She promised to bring development to the area when given the nod in 2024, and mentioned some of her traits even before she becomes the Member of Parliament for the area.
“Though we did not win in 2020, I have not abandoned the constituency and I kept constant contact with the people. I have always been with you during naming ceremonies, weddings and funerals. I offered my support to young women with tailors and hairdressing machines, I have provided water to communities where there is no potable water,” she stressed.
Forget past dominance
The Sagnarigu Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Yakubu, in a media interview said all parties involved in the area have come to a compromise to elect Madam Felicia to lead the NPP into the 2024 general elections.
“We’re fully prepared as a constituency; we’re poised to succeed; we’re massing up and mobilising grassroots and anything that is needed to ensure that we snatch the seat from the National Democratic Congress.”
The MCE indicated that the notion that the Sagnarigu seat is for the opposition NDC belongs to history and argued that, “if you make a reference to the 2020 elections and the figures that our candidate got as against Hon A.B.A Fuseini who emerged as the winner, you would realize that it was a great success – a great success because the woman was able to garner about 44 polling stations and that was about 26,434 votes and that means a lot to the party”.
Mr. Ahmed indicated any well-meaning Ghanaian who does a trend analysis of elections in any constituency in the country will appreciate that the NPP is determined to win the Sagnarigu seat and warned members of the NDC to forget that they have won it in the past.
“It’s not going to be a joke and nobody should sit anywhere and think that the seat is a traditional seat for any political party. As you can see the people are massing up and we could not control the crowd, it means a lot and this was not made up of only members of the NPP and I can tell on authority that there are people I can identify and it is not about the colours but the candidate because she is unique in nature,” he emphasised.
Meanwhile, Dr Abdul Wahab Alhassan, the only person who announced his intention to contest the Sagnarigu primaries during the week stepped down from the race.
According to him, the decision was to maintain the spirit of peace and unity in the party and called on his supporters to remain solid for the course of the NPP in the constituency.
He also promised to offer his full support to any candidate elected to lead the party into next year’s polls.
