Mr Tahiru Imoro, the Tamale Metro Director of the NCCE, who expressed this sentiments, said the number of parliamentary aspirants showing up for the debate was not encouraging, and added that the act undermined good democratic governance in the country.

He made this known when the Tamale Metro NCCE, with support from the European Union (EU), organised a debate session for parliamentary aspirants in the Tamale Central Constituency of the Northern Region.

Mr Tahidu said "The beauty of our democracy is to see those seeking political positions avail themselves for more probing by their constituents, however, when they fail to appear before them, it raises enormous concerns in our quest to deepen our democratic values and principles"."Going forward, I think our parliamentary aspirants must always endeavour to subject themselves to scrutiny by their constituents so they would understand the development plans the aspirants have for them," he added.

He noted that similar events were organized by the NCCE in other constituencies in the metropolis, which recorded similar abysmal representations.

Mr Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary aspirant for the Constituency, said he was focused on bringing development in the areas of water and sanitation, improving on educational infrastructure and social amenities.

He said "the Tamale Central deserves a better, selfless, dedicated and a unifier to deliver, and I have demonstrated that over the years".

He, therefore, rallied constituents to vote for him to effectively represent them in Parliament.

Dr Al-Hussein Zakaria, Northern Regional Peace Council representative, said promoting peace was crucial in the upcoming general elections in the country, adding "The fact that we all belong to different political parties does not mean we are enemies. Elections will come and go, but we will still remain brothers and sisters".