A political risk analyst and fellow at the Center for Democratic Development (CDD), Theo Acheampong, says it is wrong for the National Investigation Bureau (NIB) to conduct a poll on the running mate selection for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) ahead of this year’s general election.
According to him, this act constitutes an abuse of office.
According to a survey reportedly carried out by the National Investigation Bureau (NIB), the Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, is widely preferred among NPP members to be the running mate to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia.
The survey engaged 5,116 NPP delegates nationwide, including national, regional, constituency, and polling station executives.
The study claims Dr Opoku Prempeh secured 76.2% of the responses from the executives polled.
Speaking on JoyNews Newsfile, Mr Acheampong stated “if the party really wants to conduct polls and even poll its members, there are people and organisations out there that can do that for them, and the optics do not look good.”
According to the CDD Fellow, although some have argued that similar polls have been conducted by a state agency in the past, conducting polls is not within the mandate of the NIB.
“If you look at the mandate of the NIB in relation to what has actually been done here, I struggle to reconcile the two. What is the national security interest in all of these in terms of this polling?”
North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa was the first to condemn the NIB’s alleged involvement in the survey, threatening to drag the National Security Minister before parliament to explain why state resources could be used for such a purpose
He emphasised that the NIB is funded by the taxes of all Ghanaians, not just members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Speaking on the same show, on Saturday, June 22, Mr Ablakwa criticised the government for using a state institution to conduct a poll about the selection of a running mate for its 2024 general elections flagbearer.
He argued that if the government wants to conduct such a poll, it should use its funds and engage academics or other organisations.
Source: myjoyonline.com
