The Northern Regional Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Mohammed Abdul Salam (King Salam) has defended the selection of Mr. Ali Adolf to succeed the late Chairman Ibrahim Mobila in an acting capacity.
Mr. Adolf is expected to superintend over the affairs of the largest opposition party in the region until when the NDC goes to elect new Regional Executives. His appointment was announced last week in a statement issued after a Functional Executive Committee (FEC) held in Tamale.
However, there was disagreement within the ranks of the NDC regional setup as one of the Vice Chairmen; Alhaji Rufai Vellim argued the committee lacked the powers for such appointment.
He further entreated all NDC branch and constituencies executives as well as his followers across the region and beyond to exercise restraint and wait for directives from the national executives of the party.
But reacting to this in an interview on Radio Tamale, Monday, August 23, Mr. Abdul Salam clarified the decision was taken pursuant to Articles 52 and 53 of the NDC Constitution which highlights how a quorum shall be formed for any party meeting and how a decision can be taken by consensus or by a majority vote respectively.
Article 52 precisely states that, “Unless, otherwise provided for by this constitution, the quorum for any party meeting shall be one-third (1/3) of the registered members of that level, body or organ.”
And 53 says “At any party meeting, except as otherwise provided in this constitution, decisions shall be reached by consensus and in case of failure to reach a consensus, by a majority of the votes cast.”
The Secretary disclosed the members present at the meeting failed to reach a consensus on the proposal to maintain Mr. Ali Adolf as enjoined by the party’s constitution.
He stated about 10 of a number of 13 people voted for the appointment of the former Saboba DCE as the acting Chairman until the next congress.
He noted it was at that point of the discussion that two other members joined the meeting and asked questions about what was going on, adding, “Then I said they should stay the hands and let me explained to the late comers what is happening and I explained to them what was in disagreement”.