Former Minister for Information and New Patriotic Party (NPP) member Fatimatu Abubakar has cited violence at the NDC’s 2022 National Youth and Women’s Congress to defend concerns raised about violence during the party’s internal elections.
Speaking on TV3’s Keypoints, Abubakar argued that criticism from opposition figures should not automatically be dismissed as politically motivated, particularly when there are past incidents to support their concerns.
She recalled that the NDC’s National Youth and Women’s Congress, held on December 10, 2022, turned violent, leading the police to declare 16 people wanted.
“Just exactly four years ago, if you could remember, on 10th December 2022, the NDC organised their National Youth and Women’s Congress. It turned so bloody that 16 people were declared wanted,” she said.
Abubakar also referred to violence allegedly recorded during branch elections in the Asen Central constituency in July, claiming that youth organiser aspirants were nearly killed.
“If you go to Assin Central just last July, their branch elections, they nearly killed the youth organiser aspirants. All of you reported it,” she told the programme’s host.
She maintained that her concerns were based on incidents that had already been reported publicly, rather than an attempt to discredit the opposition party.
“The police service itself issued a statement looking for 16 people. Issued a warrant for the arrest of 16 people. And these are facts,” she said, referring to the 2022 congress.
Abubakar added that TV3 and 3FM had covered the incidents and that their archives could be used to verify her claims.
She argued that political parties should be willing to consider criticism from people outside their ranks instead of assuming that such comments were made out of hostility.
“Don’t just assume that some of those criticisms are born out of malice. They are not,” she said.
