Tension is brewing in the Convention People’s Party’s (CPP) camp in the  Sagnarigu Constituency  in the Northern Region over who contests  the seat on the party’s ticket in the December polls.

This follows the decision of the party to jettison its 2012 parliamentary candidate, Mr Alhassan Suhuyini, for a new candidate in the person of Madam Zelia Issah.

According to sources close to the party in the constituency, Madam Zelia Issah, who is a known member of the National Democratic Congress  (NDC), was allegedly handpicked by the party’s constituency Chairperson, Mallam Saani, to contest on the ticket of the CPP.

But Mallam Saani denied the allegations when contacted by the Daily Graphic and explained that Madam Issah was selected based on broader consultations within the party and also with the support of the people and some opinion leaders in the constituency.

The chairperson further explained that the party decided not to organise parliamentary primaries to select its parliamentary candidates but to use an internal mechanism and processes of the party to select its parliamentary candidates for the 2016 general election, which was in line with the party’s constitution and, therefore, did not see any illegality in the selection of Madam Issah.

However, the decision to dump Mr Suhuyini has brought sharp division in the constituency. While some claimed the former parliamentary candidate, Mr Suhuyini, was not a marketable material, those  for the new candidate, Madam Issah,  said she is popular as  an Assembly Member at Sagnarigu.

Those who support  Madam Zelia Issah claimed she was  popular among the people in the constituency and capable of winning the seat for the party.

When contacted,Madam Issah told the Daily Graphic she was once a member of the NDC but had since resigned  to join the CPP and was selected based on a broader consultation within the party to contest as the parliamentary candidate of the CPP for the Sagnarigu Constituency.

Manoeuvres

Information gathered from the constituency indicates that Madam Issah is popular on the ground and has the capabilities to unseat the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Alhaji A.B.A Fusieni, who is also the Deputy Northern Regional Minister, hence the decision to select her.

According to grapevine sources within the constituency, Alhaji Fusieni has fallen out of favour with the people and some opinion leaders in the constituency and, therefore, the manoeuvres to get a formidable candidate to represent the people in Parliament.

Displeasure

Mr Suhuyini, the 2012 CPP parliamentary candidate for the Sagnarigu Constituency, has, however, expressed his utmost displeasure at the decision of the constituency executive to replace him.

In a press statement issued to the media in Tamale,  Mr Suhuyini condemned the actions and attitudes of the party’s executive members and some opinion leaders of the constituency, as well as some national executive members of the party.

“I feel stabbed in the back by my own CPP comrades by their illegally nominating Madam Zelia Issah as  the parliamentary candidate for the Sagnarigu Constituency on the ticket of the CPP for the 2016 general election. This they did without any consultations and due regard for the party’s constitution and other rules and regulations,” he said.

He described Madam Issah’s nomination as illegal and unconstitutional because of the following reasons: She is currently a card-bearing member of the NDC and former constituency executive member of the NDC in the constituency.

Mr Suhuyini alleged  Madam Issah participated in the NDC parliamentary primaries in November last year at Sagnarigu and is also an assembly woman of the Sagnarigu Electoral Area and that she has since not resigned her position and further alleged that her nomination was done without recourse to the party’s constitution and regulations.

Source: graphic.com