Pressure mounts on PNC MP to resign

Information available to this paper indicate that incessant pressure is being mounted on Minister of State in charge of Public Sector Reforms, Hon. Alhassan Azong to resign from his current position.

The People’s National Convention (PNC) party which Mr. Azong is its incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa South Constituency in the Upper East region, sources close to its flag-bearer, Dr. Edward Nasigiri Mahama said, was not happy about the recent attack on the MP by some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

That the source said, the PNC on Wednesday, June 29, 2016 resolved that, Hon. Azong should quit his position before President John Dramani Mahama kicks him out.

The party, this paper gathered, was not happy, for instance the attack on Hon. Azong by the NDC’s Deputy General Secretary, George Lawson last week on Okay FM when he indicated that if he were President Mahama he would sack the former from his government.

Mr. Lawson on Okay FM was reported to have questioned the loyalty of Hon. Azong to President Mahama when early this year, the later took his flag-bearer to his constituency during his confirmation as the PNC’s 2016 parliamentary candidate and asked the constituents to vote for him and Dr. Mahama in the November 7 polls.

And that act and his subsequent interview on Citi FM barely two months ago where he said his loyalty “is to the state and not to President Mahama” were among other things that have incurred the wrath of the NDC.

What probably might have been the last straw that broke the camel’s back, our sources said, was when Hon. Azong accompanied his flag-bearer to the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) presidential debate recently and cheered him up when his flag-bearer was lambasting President Mahama.

But the PNC, the source said, did not see anything wrong with the action (s) of its MP for him to be castigated by the NDC.

“The mere fact that, our key member is serving in the NDC does not mean that we cannot criticise President Mahama”, National Chairman of the PNC, Benard Monarh was reported to have told his confidante.

According to the source, the arrangement that led to the appointment of Hon Azong was not something that the PNC as a party knew about it.

However the source claimed, it was a personal arrangement that occurred between the Builsa South MP and the late Professor Evans Fiifi Atta Mills and not the PNC.

“We never asked any of our members to take an appointment from the NDC so they should stop disturbing our ears with dismissal threat. We don’t owe them anything. Our responsibility is to win power and serve Ghana and not the NDC”, sources at the PNC headquarters said.

In fact, the source said the NDC should prepare itself for more attacks since it’s the government in power, “because we do not have problem with New Patriotic Party (NPP)”.

And if the NDC, the source said is not comfortable, “President Mahama can sack Hon. Azong after all, he is not even regarded by the NDC”.

Meanwhile the PNC, the source indicated has expressed its full confidence in Hon Azong to retain the Builsa South seat and also increase the presidential votes of Dr. Mahama in this year’s General Elections.

It is for these reasons that our source said, the PNC wants Hon. Azong to voluntarily resign from Mahama’s government.

“We will continue to do all that we can as a party to ensure that, Hon. Azong leave this incompetent government”, the source stressed.