Mr. Spio Garbrah submitted his forms at the party’s Headquarters on Tuesday, and overpaid the filing fee by adding GHc5,000 to the original GHc300,000 fee.
He explained that the additional amount of Ghc5,000 is meant to support the party and to prove that he wasn’t broke as some people suggested when he joined other aspirants to petition the NDC hierarchy over the high cost of filing and nomination fees.
He said his reluctance to pay the original GHc400,000 filing fee was not as a result of his incapability or unwillingness to contribute to the party, but rather a matter of principles.
The former Communications Minister, however, advised the party to find better ways of generating money for activities such as elections, rather than monetizing internal elections by slapping high fees on aspirants.
“Even though I was one of those who asked for the figure to be reduced from 400, 000 Ghana cedis, and I am still insisting the figure should be reduced, I am paying the extra 5000 cedis to demonstrate that it is not an unwillingness to contribute to the party, it is not an incapability, but it is a matter of principles.
“This party should not forget its rules and should not attempt to mimic other parties and should not attempt to commercialize itself to the point where it prizes out of the market many wonderful members of the party who may not necessarily have all the resources we think we need to run an election,” Mr. Spio Garbrah stated.
He becomes the seventh candidate to officially file his nomination ahead of the NDC’s presidential primaries originally slated for Saturday, January 26, 2019.
Meanwhile, a High Court in Accra has placed an injunction on the election after two individuals dragged the NDC to court to challenge the rules and guidelines set for the presidential primaries.
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