I’m not campaigning for Damango seat — N/R Minister

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Damango, Mr Adam Mutawakilu, wants the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, sanctioned for violating the party’s constitution and campaigning for the parliamentary seat even before the party opens nominations.

The MP is, therefore, planning to drag the minister before the executives of the party for allegedly campaigning to contest his seat in the party’s parliamentary primaries.

The MP is alleging that the minister made his intentions known when he visited the constituency at the weekend and met with some constituency executives. 

According to reports, the minister had been to the constituency and met with some mallams, constituency executives and two former chairpersons of the party and declared his plans to run for the seat.

The regional minister is also reported to have visited the party father and moved to the communities, canvassing for support.

At all these meetings and in the interactions, the MP insisted that the regional minister “declared his intentions to contest.”

“I want them to bring him to book. He has flouted the Constitution and directives of the regional chairman,” he demanded.

Minister denies

But the regional minister has denied declaring plans to contest the Damango parliamentary seat in the 2016 Elections.

He has also denied breaching Article 43 of the NDC Constitution which bars party members from campaigning until the opening of nominations for potential candidates.

“I have not campaigned…I have not campaigned. I am a Regional Minister for the Northern Region and I have every right to do my official business…but I have not gone anywhere to campaign,” Mr Limuna argued.

Denying these allegations on Eyewitness News, Alhaji Limuna admitted visiting Damango to meet with the constituency executives after taking part in the National Sanitation Day (NSD) exercise.

He recalled interacting with the constituency executives “and some of them wanted to know whether I would want to come back if I had the opportunity and I said yes, I would want to come back when the time comes but I have not gone round to campaign.”

Alhaji Limuna was, however, quick to clarify that his actions did not amount to breaching the NDC’s Constitution and further asked, “Even if I told somebody, don’t I have the right to speak?”

Asked whether he intended to contest the parliamentary primaries of the NDC in the area, the regional minister said: “When we get there, we will take decisions.”

Damango MP

The minister faulted the sitting MP for discussing internal party issues with the media without first seeking redress with the leadership of the NDC.

“We don’t run the party in the media so if he thinks I have done anything that he is not happy with, he could have called me to find out as a colleague or reported to the structures for them to look at it,” he remarked.

He added that the NDC was a party which had standards of communication, a Constitution and rules. Therefore, “He should go to the party for the party to call me.  Then we discuss this issue because these are internal issues.”

The regional minister acknowledged that he had visited the constituency but said it was only to give the executives “hope” and discuss party matters.

This is something he had also done in other constituencies, he revealed, adding that the MPs there did not complain.

He also admitted meeting the Yagbonwura [the Gonja Overlord] but insisted it was to discuss “security” matters as the chairman of the Northern Regional Security Council.

Continuing his defence, the minister added that it was party executives who “followed” him around during the National Sanitation Day clean-up exercise.

Eventually “we had to sit down and talk about the party” after the clean-up exercise, he said. If he told any party executive about his intentions, it was only in answer to a question.

But he denied meeting any group of mallams.

Nonetheless, as a politician, he will “cross the bridge” when the time comes - when formal declaration to contest is permitted.

He pledged his commitment to abide by the directives, saying he had a hand in getting the Regional Chairman, Sofo Azorka, to issue it.

The Damango MP told his 2012 opponent in the primaries that being in “a scientific world,” he had recordings of his meetings which he intended to use at the right time.

The regional minister called his bluff, telling him that he could not run the party in the media.