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Aspiring General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Richard Ahiagbah, has expressed reservations about the reported expulsion threat issued by the acting General Secretary of the party, Mr John Boadu, to some polling station executives of the party who have threatened to go to court over perceived electoral irregularities.

Mr. Boadu is reported to have said on Okay FM, Accra, that “polling station executives should desist from taking the party to court because their plans won’t work. We would be forced to sack them from the party if they refuse to rescind their decision [to go to court,]” he said.

Speaking in an interview with Today in Accra, Mr. Ahiagbah stressed that it was wrong to threaten members of the party with expulsion over claims of irregularities emanating from the polling station elections.

In his view, the statement attributed to the acting general secretary of the NPP, which threatens expulsion, escalates rather than helps de-escalate or calm the nerves of the aggrieved members.

According to Mr. Ahiagbah, the NPP’s constitution is clear on the matter, members are enjoined to exhaust all internal grievances avenue at all time, but says leadership has a responsibility to ensure equal access and fair hearing for all.

He goes on to say that going to court is a matter of last resort, and every member of the NPP knows that.

“However, threatening aggrieved members of the NPP whether or not you believe the legitimacy of their claim amounts to excessive use of power. We in the NPP must resist the thought or the appearance of excessive use of power to silence and stifle democracy’,” he averred.

According to the NPP aspiring general secretary, “Every member of our party deserves to be heard and not threatened with expulsion into silence. Going forward, we must reinvest in building strong and fair party structures that serve member

some deep concerns with the grassroots elections therefore, it is important to hear or understand the nature of the problem, and work together to improve the process to earn the trust and confidence of the membership.”

The aspiring general secretary said in passionate terms, that the NPP is a democratic party, and “we must give every effort to continue to conduct our affairs as such because that is our heritage and strength.”

Mr. Ahiagbah thus used to opportunity to call on the delegates of the NPP to vote for him massively to win the General Secretary position of the party to ensure that democracy flourishes again in the NPP, so as to give voice to every member without regard to status.