The National Democratic Congress has explained why it cleared Mohammed Baba Jamal Ahmed to contest the Ayawaso East by-election despite widespread allegations of vote-buying during the party’s February 7, 2026 internal primary.
The primary, organised to select a candidate for the March 3, 2026 by-election following the death of Member of Parliament Mahama Naser Toure, was overshadowed by allegations of buying of votes with gifts.
Baba Jamal, who was Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria at the time, was declared winner with 431 votes by the Electoral Commission. However, videos and reports circulating showed delegates allegedly receiving items including 32-inch television sets and other gifts, triggering public outrage and calls for annulment.
President John Dramani Mahama subsequently recalled Baba Jamal from his diplomatic post pending investigations, while sections of the public and political actors demanded that the results be set aside.
According to the NDC’s General Secretary, Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey, they received recommendations to annul the results from the investigative committee set up to probe the allegations, however significant legal and procedural obstacles made that option impossible.
Speaking to the media on February 10, he explained, “The committee report was to the effect that ideally we should have an annulment of the primaries, however the committee also acknowledged that there are real obstacles that make it difficult for us to to do that.”
Widespread inappropriate conduct
According to him, the committee found that inappropriate conduct was not limited to just the one aspirant, making it difficult to single out only Baba Jamal.
“The long and short of the report is that inappropriate conduct was exhibited by virtually almost all the candidates. Even though you cannot establish that what they did was in light of motivating of delegates, we believe that that was inappropriate.”
No constitutional basis for annulment
He also stated that the National Democratic Congress constitution does not provide clear grounds for annulling a primary election based on the type of misconduct alleged.
“The party’s constitution does not have a provision for an annulment of election.”
Time Constraints
The upcoming by-election is scheduled for March 3, 2026. The party determined that annulling the results was not a viable option due to the limited time remaining to field a candidate.
“We are time bound because we need to be presenting the candidates by tomorrow [February 11] to the electoral commission,” added Fiifi Kwetey.
Avoidance of Legal Challenges
He also noted that the party leadership sought to avoid potential legal battles that might arise if they attempted to disqualify the declared winner of the primary.
“There are legal challenges that could be mounted by whoever won. The party clearly would not be able to go through any other process without presenting a candidate very quickly.”
Official EC Declaration
Since Baba Jamal was officially declared the winner by the Electoral Commission (EC) with 431 votes, the party maintained it had “no option” but to present the candidate recognized by the EC.
“Given the time and also the legal challenges, we have no option but to present Baba Jamal who actually won according to Electoral Commission declaration.”
The decision means Baba Jamal will remain the National Democratic Congress’ candidate for the Ayawaso East by-election, even as investigations and public debate over money politics in internal party elections continue.
