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Executives of the New Patriotic Party in the Northern Region, led by their local chairman, Mohammed A Baatima Samba, have declared their support for an aspiring chairman of the party, Freddie Blay.

Information available to the Daily Statesman indicates that they declared their support on Tuesday when Blay met them in Tamale during a campaign tour of the region.

The NPP Northern regional secretary, Sulley Sambian, told this paper that when certain party executives were suspended before the 2016 elections, it was the Acting Chairman who had stepped in and steered the party to victory.

Sambian added that the executives are people who have been tried and tested. That makes their endorsement of the NPP Chairman worthy of recommendation come 7 July, when the party will go to the polls to elect national executives.

Two-term jinx

Sambian said that Blay had been able to ensure cordiality between the party and government. He described this as a favour that delegates must repay by endorsing the Acting Chairman overwhelmingly.

The NPP Northern Regional second vice-chairperson, Felicia Tetteh, stressed on her part that Blay had sacrificed much for the party.

“He has never abandoned the party. He is a grass-roots man and I think we must vote for him to continue,” she said.

The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, declared that the Acting Chairman’s support base in the region is unshakeable, and added that it is clear whom the party wants to lead.

Meanwhile, a group known as the Time Aso (“time’s up”) Movement says the moment is right to break the tradition of ruling parties exchanging the baton of power just for the sake of change.

According to Time Aso, Stephen Ntim, if elected, would help to break the two-term jinx suffered by the two leading political parties, NPP and NDC.

At a media engagement in Accra on Tuesday, the group’s convenor, Emmanuel Nii Abbey, said that Ntim must be elected as chairman if the NPP wants to remain in power for longer than eight years at a stretch.

“This would allow the country to continue to enjoy the prudent policies put in place by this government,” Nii Abbey said.