President Akufo-Addo has refuted claims that he has thrown his weight behind one of the aspiring candidates in the New Patriotic Party’s flagbearership race.
According to him, allegations suggesting that he's backing the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s candidacy, against the other aspiring candidates is a 'false and malicious narrative.'
Speaking at a meeting with NPP Communicators at the Jubilee House the President was emphatic that he has no intention of imposing anyone on the party.
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“The assertions by some in the party that government is somehow allegedly ‘intimidating or coercing party faithful to throw their weight or support behind one of the presidential aspirants…the allegation is being made that the government is putting its authority behind the Vice President. I want to say in very clear terms to you and to the world that it is a false and malicious narrative."
“There is not a single truth to it. That is why I can beat my chest to it and I can say without any fear of contradiction that there is no one in the party, there is not a single person in the NPP who can say that I have asked him or her to support this or that aspirant. I haven’t done it and I know why I haven’t done it,” he emphasised.
Akufo-Addo said the government had also not set out to dismiss any MMDCE or any political appointee because they were supporting a particular aspirant.
“No minister, no deputy minister has been thrown out of his job or even been threatened because of their support for their preferred presidential aspirant,” he added.
Meanwhile, NPP have decided to extend the deadline for proxy application submissions in the upcoming presidential electoral college elections.
The new deadline is now set for Saturday, August 5, 2023, at 10:00 am.
The Special Electoral College is scheduled for August 26 and shall be held at the 16 Regional Capital.