A failed Parliamentary Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Korle Klottey Constituency of the Greater Accra region, Valentino Nii Noi Nortey is pleading for clemency from the party’s hierarchy for exhibiting gross disrespects prior to the 2016 elections.
He has revealed in an interview his unflinching love for the NPP despite going contrary to these regulations by standing as an independent parliamentary candidate soon after losing to Lawyer Philip Addison in the delayed constituency primaries in 2016.
“I really love my party and I can’t turn my back on it. It’s rather unfortunate it ended up this way but I’m only asking for forgiveness,” he begged.
Nii Noi it would be recalled claimed his decision to go independent was based on the fact that he was unfairly treated by the party and its executives at the time.
He won the first primary organized by the party on August 2 2015; however, Counsel for the NPP in the 2012 Presidential petition case, Phillip Addison, who was a defeated aspirant, sued the NPP at the High Court, demanding annulment of the results.
An Accra High Court dismissed an application filed by the disputed Parliamentary Candidate, Nii Noi Nortey, which sought to set aside a default judgment thereby setting the pace for the opposition.
But all efforts including an intervention by Former President John Agyekum Kufuor and the then flagbearer of the party Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to compel him step aside as an independent candidate failed until he went through the polls and performed abysmally.
Commenting on the development for the first time publicly, he said “It hasn’t been easy… I will like to use this opportunity to forgive anybody who opposed me and also anyone who I might have offended. When you are young you get people telling you to do all manner of things. However, I want to use this opportunity to ask for forgiveness and especially my political godfather – former President J. A Kufuor. He even called me to rescind my decision [to go independent] but there were a lot of circumstances on the ground which didn’t allow that.”
“I want to use this opportunity to apologise to the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo because he also called me to rescind my decision and I didn’t listen. I must say it wasn’t an issue of disobedience, “but there was a lot of politics on the ground which I can’t go into’
“Yes, I regret going independent. The circumstances which led to that was unfortunate. In life sometimes you have to make some tough decisions. I’m really sorry to the big men I failed to heed their advice”
“I’m apologizing to these big men – Nana Addo, Kufuor, Bawumia – including Anthony Karbo, Mustapha Hamid for all my actions.”
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