The National Council of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has agreed to Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s request for more time to select a running mate for the 2024 general election.
According to the NPP’s constitution, the vice-presidential candidate must be picked at least 12 months before general elections if the party is not in office or if the president is not running.
After an emergency meeting on Wednesday, the National Council, which has the authority to make exceptions to the party’s constitution, agreed with Dr. Bawumia’s request for more time to select his running mate.
Speaking to the media after the emergency meeting of both the National Council and the National Executive Committee (NEC) in Accra, NPP general secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong disclosed that the National Council agreed with Dr Bawumia’s suggestion.
He claimed that the National Council consented to the vice-president’s request because his election as the party’s flagbearer occurred on November 4, 2023, and he would need time to confer before presenting his running mate’s decision to the body.
According to him, the party’s constitution, specifically article 13 (3)(2), states that “the vice-presidential candidate shall be a known and active member for at least five years and shall be nominated by the presidential candidate at least 12 months before general elections when the party is not in government, or the president is not the candidate.”
“The National Council may, however, dispense with this requirement under special circumstances. From the interpretation of this article, it presupposes that today should have been the day our leader of the party and our presidential candidate should have presented his running mate to the national council.”
Kodua Frimpong also revealed that the NEC decided to move the primaries for sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) from January 20 to January 27, 2024.
As a result, the new date for elections in constituencies where the party has sitting MPs would be January 27, 2024.
He stated that the NEC heeded the appeal of the party’s sitting MPs to cease campaign operations in their respective seats so that they could focus on the government’s budget, which Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta delivered to parliament.
According to Kodua Frimpong, the party also took use of the opportunity to remind officers, particularly delegates for the next parliamentary primaries, of the importance of being members in good standing, which necessitated that their dues be current.