Court grants NPP’s plea to settle Walewale primary dispute out of court

The High Court in Tamale has granted pleas by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to settle a dispute over the party’s primaries in Walewale out-of-court.

The dispute involves the MP for Walewale, Hajia Lariba Zuwera Abudu and the parliamentary candidate for the constituency. Hajia Zuwera took the issue to court after losing the primaries, alleging over-voting.

In a court session on Wednesday, the party asked for an out-of-court settlement. In a previous session on March 15, the party had asked the court to dismiss the case, but the court refused and fined the party GH¢8000.

In Wednesday’s session, the court agreed to the party’s request for an out-of-court settlement. The parties have been told to return on May 23.

After the court proceedings on Wednesday, the Director of Elections of the NPP, Evans Nimako, told Citi News, “We’ve appealed to the court to allow the party to resolve it in-house after which we will come back to report our terms of resolution…the party’s leadership in its entirety is here to ensure that we have peace in Walewale constituency.”

“Internal elections are internal elections and we’ve always done it. We always have a way of resolving our issues after which we submit candidates for elections. We’re looking forward to a bigger picture of winning the 2024 elections.

“Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is from the constituency…so we are doing everything possible within the party’s means to ensure that we have a party in Walewale that is going to win the seat and also ensure that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia becomes the next president come January 7, 2025,” he stated.

—CitiNewsroom