The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) reiterated that government appointees who fail to resign from their portfolios would be disqualified from contesting any executive position in the party.
It says the policy of government appointees resigning from their positions is still in force, and the election committee is not going to make any compromises on them.
According to the party’s long-standing policy, only individuals who are no longer serving in government positions will qualify to file nominations and participate in the internal elections.
Meanwhile, the party says it is yet to receive any official notification from individuals who have supposedly resigned from their positions, as reports have indicated.
It maintains that official status of prospective candidates would be determined during the nomination, filing and vetting process, when evidence of resignation and eligibility would be verified.
The party, however, confirmed that some officials, including the Eastern Regional Chairman, the Eastern Regional Communications Officer and Leland Tay, who is contesting for the National Chairman position, have resigned from their respective roles.
Acting IT Director of the party, Jibril Mahdi, has told Citi FM on Saturday, July 25, 2026, that the directive is expected to affect a number of government officials who may be considering contesting for executive positions while still holding public appointments, with the party also ruling out any special exemptions from the resignation requirement.
He reemphasised that persons who still hold their positions at the time of the filing and vetting process would be automatically disqualified. “Whoever is in office is not qualified to contest our elections,” he said.
Mahdi reemphasised that that party is yet to officially be informed of any resignations, saying everything they’ve heard is on social media.
“Officially, we have not received any notice from anybody that has resigned. Whatever we are hearing is based on the social media information because, at party headquarters, we are not the appointing authority,” he said.
He further stressed that the party had not received any requests for exemptions, insisting: “For now, whoever is still in office is automatically ineligible to contest as it stands.”
The governing NDC has completed its branch-level elections and is expected to continue with the next phase of the executive elections as its internal elections calendar has it. The party is expected to elect its national executives on Saturday, December 19, 2026.
