Having realized his folly in sponsoring the suspension of his perceived internal nemeses which is now taking a toll on his bid to ascend to the highest office of the land, the 2016 flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is said to be stoking confusion in the Paul Afoko camp.
Information reaching The aL-hAJJ indicates that the twice defeated presidential candidate, having now regretted instigating the removal of National Chairman, Paul Afoko; General Secretary, Kwabena Agyepong, and 2nd vice chairman, Sammy Crabbe from office, is frantically working to suppress any threat their suspension may pose to his chances in the November elections.
The uncompromising positions adopted by the trio, particularly Paul Afoko and Sammy Crabbe to fight their suspension till “the last drop of their blood”, party insiders say, have scared Nana Akufo-Addo and his loyalists so much that, they now want to make peace with the two suspended National Executives.
Dropping this hint recently, Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful revealed that it has been difficult for any party member (including NPP presidential candidate) to reach out and make peace with the suspended NPP Chairman because, in her words, “Afoko has adopted a posture which makes it difficult”.
“He has painted himself into some kind of corner and has made it impossible for anybody to reach out to him. And that goes for all the other little issues lingering on in the various constituencies. The party is bigger than anyone of us and if the party were to succeed in winning power, we will all benefit,” the Nana Akufo-Addo loyalist stated in an interview on Good Evening Ghana.
However, in order to checkmate the threats posed to his third and possibly last attempt at the presidency after unsuccessful attempts to make peace with the trio, Nana Akufo-Addo and his lackeys, sources say, plan sowing seeds of discord among the suspended National Executives.
And as part of the plot, followers of the NPP 2016 flag bearer have resorted to telling untruths that Nana Akufo-Addo has sent emissaries to Kwabena Agyepong and other aficionados of Mr. Afoko, promising them influential roles in his campaign and “mouthwatering” positions in an Akufo-Addo-led government after the November 7 elections.
They are also busily spreading claims that Kwabena Agyepong has yielded to the idea to denounce Paul Afoko in order to be reinstated as General Secretary of the party, “these lies are being churned out to create division, suspicion and mistrust amongst Afoko, Kwabena, Crabbe; Kufuor and Mpiani,” the source stated.
A leading member of the NPP privy to the ongoing machinations against the “Afoko camp” stated, “even though they (Nana Addo and his men) have so far not been successful with their plots to get Kwabena Agyepong to abandon Afoko in order to weaken their influence, they have been leaking information to some media houses that there are ongoing discussions with Kwabena to reinstate him.”
According to the NPP leading member “they churn out this false information purposefully to sow mistrust and confusion amongst Afoko, Kwabena and Sammy Crabbe.”
But, as Nana Akufo-Addo and his henchmen were rejoicing that they have succeeded in infiltrating the trio’s front, Kwabena Agyepong, made a rather rare appearance in court on Tuesday to show solidarity with Afoko and Mr. Sammy Crabbe. Mr Paul Afoko is testifying in a suit filed by Sammy Crabbe, another suspended NPP executive.
The trio was recently spotted together at the late JB Danquah, and Jake Obetsebi Lamptey’s funeral services at the forecourt of the state house in Accra. There has been rumor of deep seated suspicion and mistrust among them following Kwabena’s alleged decamping to Akufo Addo faction.
Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyapong, have both been accused of working with the governing party to deny Nana Akufo-Addo the presidency while, Sammy Crabbe was accused of breaching the NPP constitution over his unflinching support for the two. The three have since been on suspension.
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