Mass defection has hit the camp of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Walewale constituency of the Northern Region, barely four months to the general elections. About 100 youth activists of the party who are dissatisfied with President John Dramani Mahama’s administration have pitched camp with the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The defectors officially announced their decision on Monday July 11, at a news conference in Walewale ahead of President Mahama’s ‘Accounting to the People’ tour of the Northern Region beginning with Walewale on Wednesday July 13.
Their Spokesman, Charles Mahama, among other reasons, cited the appointment of the Peoples National Convention’s (PNC’s) 2012 Parliamentary candidate for the Walewale constituency, Abubakari Abdullah as the incumbent Regional Minister. With Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia as the NPP’s Vice Presidential hopeful, the party at the 2012 polls won three out the five Parliamentary seats in Mamprugu land including Walewale. The NDC in an attempt to wrestle the seat at the 2016 polls, has fielded the incumbent Northern Regional Minister, Abubakari Abdullah, who secured substantial votes at the 2012 polls on the ticket of the PNC. Interestingly, the PNC’s Presidential candidate, Dr. Edward Nasigri Mahama, also a native of Mamprugu land, has a large following there.
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