The race for the ticket of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Ayawaso East Constituency parliamentary by-election is beginning to take shape as six individuals, including the widow of the late Member of Parliament (MP), Hajia Amina Adam, picked nomination forms to contest the party’s primary.
The five male aspirants are: Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mohammed Baba Jamal Ahmed; Dr Yakubu Azindow, a previous contestant; Mohammed Ramne; Mohammed Abdul Salam, and Najib Mohammed Sani.
The process to contest in the party’s parliamentary primary in the constituency slated for February 7, 2026, does not end with the picking of the nomination forms but with the filing of same.
This process would take place today, and would be followed by vetting, balloting, and appeals tomorrow.
Until the aspirants sail through the above processes, one cannot contest the party’s parliamentary primary, and constituents are waiting in earnest to see those who would get the nod to contest the election to elect a candidate for the governing party for the constituency by-election scheduled for March 3, 2026.
Information picked by the Daily Graphic from the constituency considered to be the stronghold of the ruling party indicated that the contest would be a repeat of the 2024 parliamentary primary that was won by the late MP, Mahama Naser Toure.
The contest will be between, Hajia Amina Adam, Baba Jamal and Dr Azindow.
The NDC parliamentary primary for the 2024 general election held in 2023 was won by the late MP, Naser Toure, who polled 452 votes representing 44.93 per cent to defeat his two other contestants, Baba Jamal, who secured 309 votes representing 30.72 per cent and Yakubu Azindow, who obtained 242 votes representing 24.06 per cent in the last contest.
With Baba Jamal and Dr Azindow picking nomination forms for the February 7 primary, some supporters of the NDC believe the contest for the ticket of the party would be between the two previous contestants and Hajia Amina Adam.
Historical antecedents
This will not be the first time a widow of a late sitting MP is taking part in a political party parliamentary contest to succeed her husband in Parliament in recent times.
The first was Lydia Seyram Alhassan of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who won the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency by-election to succeed her late husband, Emmanuel Boakye Agyarko in Parliament on January 31, 2019.
Ophelia Mensah Hayford, also of the NPP, won the Mfantsiman Constituency in the 2020 election to succeed her late husband, Ekow Quansah Hayford, who was the then sitting MP.
If these historical antecedents are anything to go by, then the race for the ticket of the NDC for the Ayawaso East Constituency by-election is going to be a keenly contested one following the decision by the widow of the late MP, Hajia Amina Adam, to enter the race.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh
