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An elder of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Amoako Tuffour has commended the National Vetting Committee of the party for handling issues regarding Mr. Paul Afoko, National Chairman Aspirant, democratically. Dr. Amoako Tuffour dismissed reports the vetting committee is scheming to run Mr. Afoko down and disqualify him from the contest. Mr. Paul Afoko, in a statement released on Thursday, February 13, 2014, expressed disappointment in some members of the party and the media for what he says are fabrications and machinations targeted at him. He said in the statement that "since my vetting last Thursday the 13th of February, 2014 many things have happened...Many of them very unpleasant but l do not want to dwell on them as I am focused on my campaign and addressing these same issues with the real owners of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) i.e. the Delegates. In deciding to join the race to be the National Chairman of the NPP I expected that as in every contest some heat will be generated but I did not think that people will unashamedly lie, fabricate and publicize stories they know are not true about me all in the name of the contest. I am sad that the very things that we as a party have always accused our opponents of doing, i.e. lying against our leaders and falsely accusing them, today we are doing these same things against ourselves only because some people want to stop others from contesting in our internal elections." He further called on the Vetting Committee to "discharge its onerous duty without any blemish. I urge all NPP supporters to remain calm in order not to put the party�s name into disrepute." But speaking in an interview with Radio Gold, Dr. Amoako Tuffour stated emphatically that the decision by the Vetting Committee to look into the allegations leveled against Mr. Afoko is "normal procedure everywhere. At times, you go for a ministerial appointment in Parliament and there�s something that is brought against you. They try and investigate it. It is a normal procedure practiced everywhere by every person." He explained that every member of party is expected to go through screening before given the nod to contest for their respective positions and so asked "why would you want to make Afoko an exception to the rule?� To him, the Vetting Committee is exercising its democratic mandate and strongly believed it would not sideline Mr. Afoko. �I think it�s a very sensible of going about things; a reasonable way of doing it and a very democratic way of tackling that kind of situation."