The Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bugri Naabu was slapped in the chest during a confrontation with his forerunner on Friday night at the Modern City Hotel in Tamale.
The incident took place when Bugri called an emergency meeting involving regional executives and President Nana Akufo- Addo who was in the region on a working visit.
The meeting was among other discussions to report to the President the unending misunderstandings between some party executives and government appointees in the region and how party members were painting themselves into dangerous corners.
The former chairman of the party, Haruna Tia also known as Harun Bees reportedly rained insults on Bugri Naabu before striking his chest hard with open fingers as he struggled to climb the hotel steps into the room where the President and other senior government officials were waiting.
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Bugri was attacked for allegedly removing and replacing members of both the Regional Council of Patrons and Elders without any consultation. Haruna, who was a member of the Council of Patrons had his name removed and replaced without any form of communication.
The chairman told a radio station he was accused of deliberately taking out names of perceived rivals and putting in names of his supporters.  He said while on his way to address the meeting, the former chairman suddenly came up to him and questioned his authority to reconstitute the Regional Council of Patrons and Elders.
“I was going to address the meeting the President wanted to have with the people so when I was about to go and climb the staircase, Harun Bees came to me and said, ‘look, I want to tell you, the selection you made’ change it, and I said what selection…He said Council of Patrons and Elders and I asked him why should I change it.â€
 “…he then gave the reason that I don’t like Dagombas and I asked him, those people I chose are they, not Dagombas? Before I realized he had given me a blow in my chest. In fact, the young boys who were with me wanted to take action and I said no; if you love me, you love the party, you love Nana, forget it, let’s go and I wentâ€, Bugri Naabu recounted the attack.
In reacting to the former Chairman’s attack, Bugri explained: “I just asked him is that the way we solve a problem, thank you and I walked away. What will I say? because I didn’t want it to be seen that there is a problem because so many things were going onâ€, adding further he didn’t hit back because “by now he (Harun Bees) will have been dead and they will say that chairman Bugri has killed somebody. I won’t do it so I think I leave everything with the elders and the policeâ€.
It was not clear whether the President was informed about the confrontation, nonetheless, the incident strikes concerns among party foot soldiers and grassroots supporters over the internal rift that keeps widening.
The relationship between the Regional Coordinating Council and party secretariat continues to worsen following the chairman’s uncompromising approach.
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