NPP considering virtual meeting to decide future of parliamentary primaries

The National Steering Committee of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is considering holding a virtual meeting on the way forward regarding the indefinite suspension of its April 25 parliamentary primaries.

The NPP on April 14 announced the suspension of the parliamentary primaries for the constituencies with sitting Members of Parliament indefinitely in accordance with the President’s ban on public gathering in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic in Ghana.

The decision to suspend the primaries was decided at a National Steering Committee meeting held on Tuesday, April 14, 2020.

President Akufo-Addo on April 12 announced the extension of the initial one-month ban on public gathering, including religious activities and funerals by an additional two weeks.

The Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin said the extension takes effect from Monday, 13th April 2020 and is expected to end on April 26, 2020.

But moment after lifting the partial lockdown in parts of the country, social media was awash with a statement supposedly authored by the National Steering Committee of the NPP signed by the party’s General Secretary, John Boadu, indicating the NPP intends holding the parliamentary primaries on April 25.

But John Boadu has denied appending his signature to such a statement.

He alleged on Onua FM’s Yen Sempa on Tuesday that “the NDC wrote the memo and put my name there and it is fake. It is false”.



He insisted, “it is NDC social media guys who are spreading that falsehood because our last meeting was last Monday where we agreed that because of the COVID-19, we are suspending our primaries until further notice”.

Mr. Boadu explained that although the lockdown has been lifted, “the ban on public gathering, conference, and others have not been lifted so we are waiting until that happens before we meet”.

He however hinted that the party may have to abort any plans to hold physical meetings.

“Virtual meeting is an option we are considering so if the EI 64 is not reviewed, we shall do a virtual meeting. By 26th of the April, the EI 64 will end, so we shall do a virtual conference if it is not reviewed”.