Upper East Regional Communication Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Abdallah Jonathan Salifu is surprised that as many as 6 people are vying for the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary ticket for Bawku Central Constituency.
Abdallah Jonathan said the NDC and its candidate, Mahama Ayariga have increasingly become popular and unbeatable in the area thus, he is at lost as to what might have aroused such interest in the NPP parliamentary ticket.
“In Bawku, I don’t where the appetite is coming from. I’m surprised, completely surprised. anybody contesting in Bawku, knows very that he cannot win except Mahama Ayariga,” he said on State of Our Nation.
Painting a picture of the NDC and Mahama Ayariga’s dominance in the constituency, he boasted “Bawku is one of the places we can go to sleep and win”.
For him, the aspirants may just be seeking an opportunity to enhance the electoral fortunes of the party in the presidential elections and not necessarily to win that of the parliamentary as it is evident that none of them stand a chance against Mr. Ayariga.
“I see them to be people who want to contribute their quota to the development of the NPP. Anybody at all contesting in Bawku probably is contesting because he must go around and campaign to people to get votes for their presidential candidate but not to win”.
Since 1996, the NPP won the Bawku seat only twice.
The party first won the seat in 2000 with Hawa Yakubu as its parliamentary candidate.
However, in 2004, Mahama Ayariga emerged on the ticket of the NDC and snatched the seat from Madam Yakubu.
Mr. Ayariga, however, failed to maintain the seat in the subsequent election, losing it to the NPP’s Adamu Dramani Sakande.
In 2012, Mahama Ayariga returned after Mr. Sakande found himself on the wrong side of the law and has since then dominated in every elections – both internal and General – in the area.
