Politics of Thursday, 4 December 2014

Source: The Chronicle

NDC chair rules out revenge against minister

THE Western Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Michael Aidoo, says he has no ill feelings towards the Deputy Regional Minister, Mr. Alfred Ekow Gyan, and other members of the Electoral Committee (EC) of the party for the role they played during the recent regional congress.

Mr. Aidoo, also known as ‘Big Aidoo’, who was interacting with the media in Takoradi recently, alleged that there was grand design to cause his defeat at the congress.

According to him, the EC breached its own rules and regulations on the day of the election, by supporting the then incumbent Chairman, Nana Kojo Toku.

Big Aidoo said the actions of the EC, of which the Deputy Regional Minister was a member, clearly showed that he was being victimised. “I complained to the Deputy Regional Minister, because I felt that the way they were handling the election was very bad,” he said. But, answering a question from this reporter, as to whether he was going to take revenge against the Minister and other members of the EC in his capacity as the Regional Chairman, Big Aidoo replied in the negative.

He noted that he was rather going to work to improve upon the situation in the party, so that it does not happen again.

According to him, having now become a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, he would suggest reforms for the next election.

It would be recalled that Big Aidoo, in an expression of unhappiness in the conduct of the congress, complained to the deputy Regional Minister, Alfred Ekow Gyan, over the EC’s unfairness, but the latter ignored him.

The conduct of the Deputy Minister compelled Big Aidoo to openly tell the Minister that “with or without machinations, I am going to win the election, and from tomorrow going, I will be your Chairman, and you will come to me for help.”

The deputy Minister reportedly also barred Big Aidoo from exchanging greetings with Johnson Asiedu Nketsiah at the congress grounds, to the chagrin of the former’s supporters.

But Big Aidoo said: “If I were the Regional Chairman then, these things would not have happened.”

The NDC Regional Chairman said he was going to work hard to improve on the next elections, and to ensure fairness.

Mr. Aidoo also promised to liaise with his colleagues to increase the party’s parliamentary seats in the region.

The NDC party has 18 parliamentary seats out of the 26 constituencies, and the Chairman, according to political pundits, would have his head on the chopping block if the party fails to sustain the number and even improve upon it.