A flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, will pick his nomination forms today at the party’s Head Office in Asylum Down, Accra, to begin the process of filing to contest the presidential primary of the UP Tradition.
Persons familiar with the campaign activities of Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto say the exercise would be done by a group of party faithful called Friends of Dr. Afriyie Akoto.
“This group strongly believes in Dr. Afriyie Akoto, and has, therefore, mobilised their own resources to support him. They keep on urging Dr. Afriyie Akoto to contest for the flagbearer position to save the party.
So, they will pick the nomination forms today and go and hand it over to Dr. Afriyie Akoto at his Campaign Office. This is to urge him on,” Benjamin Oduro, who is familiar with the campaign activities of Dr. Afriyie Akoto hinted.
Should the exercise go on as planned, the picking of nomination forms by Dr. Afriyie Akoto would bring to five the number of flagbearer hopefuls who have picked the forms to contest the party’s Presidential Primary.
When nominations opened on Friday, May 26, 2023, a former Trade and Industry Minister, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Mampong Constituency, Kofi Addae Nimo, former Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko and former General Secretary of the NPP, Kwabena Agyei Agyapong, picked their nomination form to signal their readiness for the contest.
It is, however, not clear when the MP for Ketan, Joe Ghartey, former Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, MP for Assin Central Kennedy Ohene Agyapong and Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will pick their nomination forms, even though all have publicly announced their intentions to contest the party’s Presidential Primary.
On Thursday, May 25, 2023, the General Secretary of the NPP, Justin Kodua Frimpong, announced the roadmap to the party’s Presidential Primary.
In a statement released in Accra, the opening of nominations was fixed for Friday, May 26, 2023, while nominations closes on June 24, 2023.
The party scheduled Saturday, August 26, 2023, as a day for its Special Electoral College Election if the candidates for its Presidential Primary exceed five. It also scheduled Saturday, November 4, 2023, to hold its National Congress to elect a flagbearer for the 2024 general elections.
By Stephen Odoi-Larbi
