Lawyer Lamtiig Apanga, an aspirant in the parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Nabdam Constituency has admitted sending over 200 delegates to Paga prior to the conduct of parliamentary primaries in earlier in May, 2023.
Ahead of the NDC primaries, the Nabdam Constituency gained a lot of attention as one of the keenly contested slots. This led to a very a intense campaign.
Barely 24 hours to the election, Dreamz News got information about candidates camping delegates outside the constituency in a bid to convince them to vote.
On the election day, the delegates were transported to the voting centre to cast their ballot.
But despite sending over 200 delegates to Paga, Lawyer Apanga insists what he did was not camping and against the rules of politics.
In his considered view, the essence of meeting them outside the constituency was to ensure they received his message in a manner that will make them appreciate his commitment to the party and the constituency.
“When you meet within the community, there are those who may want to go and attend to their children, their husbands, their farms, their animals. There are those who may be called upon for family homes for maybe a funeral greeting or some inlaws are visiting”.
He continued, “You know how our local setting is. So sometimes to avoid some of those influences, you need to pull out of the community so that you can have enough time to engage. We went in the day before the election. It was very necessary as long as it is legitimate because you need to win”.
Despite camping over 200 delegates, lawyer ApangaLamtiig polled 177 as against Dr. Mark Nawaane’s 303 votes
Speaking Tuesday on the State of Our Nation, Lawyer Apanga, insists he did not engage in any wrong doing adding he does not feel disappointed despite the intense campaign and camping of delegates.
“Towards the last few hours to the elections, all the contestants will think about ways and means that are allowed within the remit of the guidelines of the elections to be able to win the elections. So what do you do if it means that you have to keep them to be able to talk to them?”
“You are not denying access because the other contestants also have the right to invite and it is not as if they were under lock and key. They were about 200 plus”.
