BY Issah Olegor
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has announced an expansion of its presidential primary voter register, paving the way for the inclusion of several new categories of party stalwarts and dignitaries in the upcoming elections scheduled for Saturday, January 31, 2026.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, and signed by the Secretary of the Presidential Elections Committee, the party explained that the move is in line with Article 13(1)(11) of the NPP Constitution, and follows the transitional provisions adopted at the National Annual Delegates Conference held in Accra on July 19, 2025.
New Categories of Delegates
According to the directive, the following categories of members have now been granted the right to register as delegates for the presidential primaries:
All former regional and constituency executives
Members of the National Council of Elders and 30 members of the National Council of Patrons
All past national officers
Former party card-bearing Members of Parliament and parliamentary candidates
External branch executives, including past external branch officers
TESCON leaders – including presidents of recognized tertiary institutions, the National TESCON Coordinator, all regional TESCON coordinators, and one TESCON patron from each institution
Former party card-bearing Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs)
Ten members each from the regional councils of elders and patrons, as well as five members each from constituency councils of elders and patrons.
Registration Process and Deadline
The NPP has directed all eligible officers under the above categories to register their names with their respective party structures — National Secretariat, regional and constituency offices, and external branches.
To ease the process, the party has also created an online registration platform for external branch executives and other qualified members in the diaspora.
The official registration form can be downloaded from the party’s website.
The exercise is expected to close on Friday, September 19, 2025, after which the Presidential Elections Committee will verify and validate the register to ensure that only a credible and authentic album is used for the primaries.
Ensuring Transparency and Fairness
Party officials say the registration expansion is part of efforts to promote fairness, inclusiveness, and transparency in the NPP’s internal elections.
“The Party is committed to ensuring that only qualified members who have contributed to its growth and development are allowed to participate in this critical electoral process,” the statement emphasized.
Background
The NPP has a long tradition of revising its electoral college for presidential primaries to reflect inclusivity. Over the years, the size of the electoral body has grown significantly — from a few thousand delegates in the early 2000s to hundreds of thousands in recent years — as part of reforms to broaden participation and enhance the party’s democratic credentials.
The 2026 presidential primary is expected to be a decisive one for the NPP, as it prepares to select a successor to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s administration, which left office in January 2025.
