The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ablekuma West constituency members are of the strong conviction that Roni Nicol – who reports are that he is planning to contest the incumbent Member of Parliament, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful in the upcoming parliamentary primaries is not a strong and vigorous candidate to lead the party into the tough ever election about to happen in December 2024.
The constituents who expressed this view believe Roni should still learn on the job and wait for the appropriate time to contest.
The delegates, opinion leaders and residents who spoke exclusively to this paper said, the 2024 elections would be the tough ever election to happen in the history of Ghana’s politics and that; experienced, strong character, among other descriptions would be of high interest at the end.
This they say Roni lacks, adding that, his intentions to contest the seat in the internal primary is a sabotage to the chances of party in the tough 2024 battle ahead. The constituents are appealing to delegates not to vote for him because his win will make the NDC win the seat.
It would be recalled that, in 2016, Roni Nicol contested the Incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma West, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, and was defeated in that battle.
Information is that, he is lacing his boots to contest for the 2024 elections but information picked on grounds has shown that, he would be in for another defeat, and in the event that he is voted at the primaries, he will lose the general elections and cause the NPP a lot at the end.
For the constituents, the NPP as a party must do all it can to prevent the party from losing the Ablekuma West seat to the NDC, pointing out that, that can only be achieved depending on the candidate the party presents.
“Roni at this time, is not the best choice. Now, where the Constituency has reached, we don’t think Roni Nicol is the best person to continue the baton. We have a formidable, and an excellent MP who we trust to deliver in 2024 so we are still with her,” one delegate who wanted to be anonymous said.
Another delegate added, “The 2024 election is going to be a stiff election, it’s going to be brutally fought one. And Roni is not that strong and experience like that to lead us into such a tough battle, the floating voters in the constituency won’t remember him. We need a strong person to support our Presidential candidate to garner more votes here for him and the rightful person is Madam Ursula. Roni’s time would come but not now. Not this hard battle we are about to face in 2024”.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Executive Committee (NEC) set January 20, 2024 as the new date for the conduct of the party’s parliamentary primaries in constituencies where the party has sitting MPs.
According to a release issued by the committee and signed by the NPP General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong noted that nomination shall open on December 20, 2023, and close on December 22, 2023.
“The Party anticipates the full cooperation of all stakeholders in the conduct of the primaries and wishes all aspiring candidates the best of luck,” it said.