The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has endorsed Ambassador Emmanuel Victor Smith to go unopposed as the party’s parliamentary candidate for the Abuakwa North Constituency in the Eastern Region.
This followed the withdrawal of Simon Peter Asirifi, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of East Akim by the NDC during the Vetting Committee’s meeting which took place at the party’s regional headquarters yesterday.
The General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, in a press statement noted, “With the settling of the Abuakwa North parliamentary candidature, the NDC has successfully completed its primaries in all the 275 constituencies nationwide and poised for the 2016 general election.”
Mr Smith and Mr Asirifi last week filed their nominations to contest in the Abuakwa North NDC parliamentary primary.
The MCE, as gathered, contested in the primary last year but lost to Anthony Gyimah who resigned recently.
One of Mr Gyamah’s contenders, David Frimpong, also picked the forms but withdrew Friday morning and threw his weight behind Ambassador Smith.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that some bigwigs in the party mounted pressure on the Kibi MCE, Peter Asirifi to also step aside and rally behind Mr. Smith, but he refused and went to submit his forms only to be withdrawn from the race after the vetting.
Mr. Smith, who is currently campaigning in the constituency, was in 2012 beaten by the NPP’s J.B. Danquah-Adu, who was murdered at his Shiashie residence in Accra on February 9, this year.
The NDC boycotted a recent by-election to replace the slain MP “out of respect for his memory.”
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