Mahama files to contest NDC flagbearership 

Former President John Mahama on Tuesday filed his nomination forms to contest the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flag bearer election.

A month after picking the nomination form, the campaign manager of the former President in the 2020 elections, Professor Joshua Alabi, led a team to submit the completed forms on behalf of Mr Mahama at the party's headquarters in Accra. 

He was accompanied by party bigwigs such as a former Deputy Chief of Staff, Dr Valerie Sawyerr, the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije; the immediate past Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Peter Boamah Otokunor. 

The General Secretary of the party, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, received the completed nomination forms, giving an indication that the former president had cleared that hurdle and could now prepare for vetting. 

He was flanked by members of the election management committee, led by Kakra Essamuah, who doubles as the Communications Director of the party. 

Charged atmosphere

The former president was scheduled to file his nomination at 1 p.m., but about an hour to the time, the roads leading to the NDC party’s headquarters at Adabraka were blocked.

Police officers were positioned at strategic locations to redirect traffic and maintain order.

Hundreds of party supporters massed up outside the headquarters amid singing, chanting of slogans and dancing to NDC songs.

It was a  bustling scene inside the premises of the headquarters as the mammoth crowd struggled to get into the conference hall where the election management committee was seated to receive the completed nomination forms.

And when the Campaign Manager of the former President in the 2020 election, Prof. Joshua Alabi arrived, the area was electrified with the crowd screaming their lungs out.

They shouted slogans such as "Mu y3 y3 y3 a, JM beba", to wit, come rain, or shine, JM will come.

After inspecting the nomination forms and certifying the documents, the General Secretary, who was flanked by the election management team, accepted the forms, indicating that the former President had cleared that hurdle.

JM is best bet

Shortly after submitting the forms, Prof. Alabi spoke to journalists and gave the assurance that former President would win the primaries by 99 per cent.

"If JM gets 51 per cent, he has won ; 60 per cent, he has won; 70 per cent, he has won; 80 or 90 per cent, he has won; but we want 99.9 per cent to send a strong signal to our political opponents that our party is solidly united behind JM," he said. 

He called on all members of the party to rally round the former president because he had the capacity to win the 2024 election.

Prof. Alabi said the 2024 election was not going to be won on a silver platter, which was why the party needed to unite around their best candidate to win the polls and form the next government. 

He called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure fairness and transparency in the electoral process. 

"We do not want to cheat our way into power, so we will not allow anyone to cheat us too. We are calling on the EC to be firm and balanced in its dealings, without playing one party against the other. Give all of us a fair play field, that is all we want," he stressed.