The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on the leaders and members of the party to build a formidable party in the run-up to the 2016 general elections.
This, in his view, is one of the surest ways the party can wrestle power from the ruling National Democratic Congress government, whose 7 year tenure in office, according to him, has been marked by incompetence and mismanagement of the economy.
“Ghanaians are looking up to us to solve their problems. Therefore, we need victory in 2016 not for ourselves in the NPP, but for Ghanaians. We are the people who can change Ghana, and we can only do so if we build a formidable NPP,” he said.
Nana Akufo-Addo made this known when newly-elected NPP parliamentary candidates from the Odododiodio and Afram Plains South constituencies paid separate calls on him.
Nii Lante Bannerman, the NPP candidate for Odododiodioo, on Thursday, August 7, 2015, told Nana Addo that, “the NDC is now confronted with a big challenge, because of my candidature.”
As a young man who hails from, and has deep local roots in, the constituency, Nii Lante Bannerman assured the NPP flagbearer that despite the seeming “big margins” between the NPP and NDC in the constituency, evidenced in the 2012 election results, “we will make Odododiodioo a formidable place for the NPP from now till the elections are held in December 2016.”
Accompanied by a large entourage of current and past party executives from the constituency, he indicated to Nana Akufo-Addo that he was already in the process of getting the rank and file of the party in the constituency firmly united behind him, and will stop at nothing to bring onboard the two other aspirants who contested him in the June 13 primary, Reginald Niibi Ayibonte and Nii Annan Tackie.
Nana Akufo-Addo, who addressed the delegates from Odododiodioo in the presence of the Greater Accra NPP Secretary, Nii Adjei Sowah; and Mustapha Hamid, his Spokerperson, thanked them for their presence at his Nima residence.
“To overturn the margin in Odododiodioo in 2016 will not be an easy task. I believe it is, however, doable, if we work hard and are united. To the executives, please, help Nii Lante Bannerman, whether you supported him or not. The primaries are over, and it is the tradition of the NPP that we always rally behind the winner, once the contest is over,” he said.
Akufo-Addo reiterated his appeal to NPP members to desist from resorting to the use of the media in airing grievances, saying that “If you have any issues, please let us do it indoors. Let’s bring the talk of the NPP in the radio and in the newspapers to an end.”
To Nii Lante Bannerman, Nana Akufo-Addo has this to say to him: “You have a big task ahead of you, but I see you as someone who is steady and determined. I was born in Odododiodio and I will be happy if that seat comes back to the NPP.”
Afram Plains South
On Friday, August 8, William Hor, the newly elected parliamentary candidate for the Afram Plains South constituency also called on Nana Akufo-Addo.
He told the NPP flagbearer that for the first time in a very long while, “the NPP has a very genuine opportunity to win Afram Plains South.”
This, he said, was because the NPP had chosen a candidate, “an indigene”, who has lived in the constituency all his life, and who cuts across all sections of the constituency.
Unfazed by the 7,548 margin of victory chalked by the NDC candidate over the NPP in 2012, he assured Nana Akufo-Addo of an NPP victory in 2016, for both the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Mr. Hor further assured Nana Akufo-Addo that NDC rigging which takes place in the “dwarf islands”, and has been perpetuated for years, will not be countenanced in 2016 as the NPP has put in measures to ensure the party is not cheated of victory in 2016.
On his part, Nana Akufo-Addo urged William Hor to bring onboard Jeffery Konadu Addo, the only aspirant in the closely fought June 13 primary in the constituency, and his supporters, as this is the first step towards an NPP victory in 2016.
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Credit: Office of Nana Addo