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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for the Navrongo Central Constituency in the Upper East Region, Sampson Tangombu Chiragia, has said the party will not surrender the seat to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2024 election.
He said, “the NDC cannot give back the seat it snatched from the ruling NPP in the last election and that the NDC will do everything possible to retain the parliamentary seat in the 2024 general election”.
Mr Chiragia, who was among the four incumbent MPs who lost during last Saturday’s primaries in the region, gave the assurance while congratulating Simon Aworigo who defeated him in the primary in the constituency.
The incumbent MP, who was seeking a second term, lost to Mr Aworigo who had 475 votes, while the sitting MP had 447 votes. Pius Ayemva Avio and Jacob P. Anankware polled 135 and 88 votes respectively.
The MP pledged his unflinching support to the new parliamentary candidate and subsequently urged all his supporters and supporters of all other aspirants in the contest to rally behind Mr Aworigo to retain the seat for the NDC.
He said, “as we prepare for the 2024 general election, I will continue to support the constituency executive members and the new candidate to retain the parliamentary seat for the NDC so as to build upon the works I have done”.
Further, he called on the other aspirants to come together and offer the needed support to the new parliamentary candidate to cement the party’s dominance in the constituency.
“I wish to assure the rank and file of the party that we shall work very hard together to win the seat again and an overwhelming endorsement for former President John Dramani Mahama in the next election to form the next government in 2025,” he said.
The NPP leadership in the region has also vowed to reclaim the parliamentary seat it lost to the opposition NDC in the 2020 election.
The party said the move was to honour the late Joseph Kofi Adda, a former MP for the area who occupied the seat for two terms.
The Upper East Regional Chairman of the party, Anthony Namoo, made the pledge at a special lecture to mark the one-year anniversary of the passing of the former MP at Navrongo in February this year.
He stressed that the only reward to immortalise the memory of the late Kofi Adda was for the party to recapture the Navrongo Central seat in 2024”.
The constituency is a swing one in terms of the parliamentary seat as both the NPP and the NDC have each won four of the eight parliamentary elections since the commencement of the Fourth Republic in 1992.
The NDC won 1992, 1996, 2012 and 2020, while the ruling NPP won 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2016.
Obviously, the 2024 parliamentary election would be fiercely fought as it would determine which of the two parties will have a firm control of the seat.
