The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said it would not be dragged into “needless” debates with the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) over the disqualification of some presidential aspirants.
According to the NPP, such a debate will be a distraction to the party’s campaign.
The PPP had accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of being selective in the disqualification of presidential aspirants and said even though the NPP and NDC for instance did not meet the requirements set, they were not disqualified.
At a press conference in Accra on Friday, the Policy Advisor of the PPP, Mr Kofi Asamoah said the NPP’s presidential candidate failed to attach the receipts of his statutory declaration to the nomination forms.
According to him, the decision of the NPP flag bearer not to make a statutory declaration of his assets as required by the EC for instance, was an offense of perjury for which the EC should have disqualified him.
But responding, the acting General Secretary of the NPP, Mr John Boadu said if the PPP have any issues with Akufo-Addo’s qualification, they should contest it in court.
He said the reason for which the NPP and for that matter its flag bearer did not attach the receipts was because he was not a public officer and that the law that required him to do so had been repealed.
“We said it openly and we did not do so because we believe that the law which the EC was requiring candidates to do so had been repealed. So that thing was null and void,” he said.
He mocked that if the PPP and for that matter its flag bearer had been meticulous, “he wouldn’t have gone ahead to declare his assets. So he rather unfortunately couldn’t read very well and didn’t understand that, that statement that was made there as part of the requirement is a statement that has been repealed already.”
“Ask him, when he was asked what appointment is he holding…is Paa Kwesi holding any appointment? Is he a public officer? Or when he was asked on that asset declaration form what did he write? Or he wrote the date of appointment when Kufuor appointed him?” Mr Boadu quizzed.
Nonetheless, he expressed his sympathy with the PPP but stressed that the party was focused on its campaign and would not be dragged into any debates over the matter.
“I’m all with them. I will support them if they think that there’s something that has gone amiss and they want to use the law process to correct it, that’s their business but they should not drag us into this needless debate,” Mr Boadu stressed.
“We want to concentrate on our campaign. We don’t want any debate between ourselves and particularly minority parties. We are all in this game together. We should concentrate on what we do. If they think that they want to contest it in court, we are available. Our lawyers are always ready to defend us,” he added.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.
