Savelugu/Nanton Assembly elects Presiding Member and rejects President's nominee

Savelugu(NR), April 27, GNA - Members of Savelugu/Nanton District Assembly on Monday elected Mr Abdul-Rahaman Yakubu as Presiding Member but failed to confirm Mr Abdulai Alhassan Red as Savelugu/Nanton District Chief Executive.

Mr Red polled 32 votes representing 62.7 per cent while 19 out of the 51 members present voted against him thereby failing to get the required two-thirds majority to be approved.

There was a lot of consultation and lobbying for the assembly to confirm his nomination and not even the presence of Mr Stephen Sumani Nayina, Northern Regional Minister, could change their minds to approve the nominee.

Mr Bruce Ayisi, Deputy Northern Regional Director of EC who supervised the elections gave a 10-day period for fresh elections to be conducted.

Earlier, Mr Yakubu, had to compromise with Mr Isshahaku Gunu who stepped down to pave the way for him to be elected as the Presiding Member since he could not win outright in the first round of voting. Mr Yakubu polled 28 votes while Mr Gunu had 23 but through negotiations, Mr Gunu stepped down and the second round of voting for confirmation, Mr Yakubu had 49 votes and two members abstained. Mr Nayina said the clock of development was ticking against the NDC and described as unfortunate the rejection of the nominee, which would continue to slow down development in the district.

He said, "Districts that are rejecting the President's nominees are not helping matters. It is when DCEs are in place that effective development can take off and you would be doing a disservice to the NDC and your assemblies if you continue to reject nominees."

However, Mr Nayina commended the assembly members for the orderly manner they exercised their franchise, which was a clear manifestation of the country's maturing democracy but appealed to them to embark on proper consultation and negotiations to confirm the nominee during the next meeting.