The Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Haruna Mohammed, has clarified that the payment of the GH¢4 million “development fee” will not, on its own, lead to the outright disqualification of a presidential aspirant.

His clarification follows revelations by former flagbearer aspirant Francis Addai-Nimoh, who claimed that failure to pay the fee could cost aspirants their eligibility to contest in the party’s upcoming presidential primaries.

• Read also: NPP’s flagbearer race hit by controversy over ‘silent’ GH¢4m ‘Dev’t Fee’, Addai Nimo raises questions

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM's Top Story on Monday, September 8, Mr. Mohammed explained that while payment of the fee is a requirement, the final decision on whether an aspirant qualifies or not rests with the vetting process.

“If there is a deadline for something to be paid and somebody did not pay after the deadline, obviously, the person did not pay. But there will be vetting of all documents, including those filed by aspirants. Until vetting is done and the report is submitted to the National Council, I cannot say what will happen,” he said.

He added that neither the party’s constitution nor the guidelines released on July 29, 2025, explicitly state that non-payment of the development fee results in automatic disqualification.

“I have in my hand the memo opening nominations and the guidelines released the same day. In none of these documents is it stated that failure to pay the development fee leads to outright rejection,” he stressed.

Mr. Mohammed noted, however, that the payment requirement, captured under item six of the constitution and item five of the guidelines, remains binding and will form part of the vetting assessment.