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The ruling New Patriotic Party says it will not have any worries with veteran politician and staunch member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) E.T Mensah, being part of the Council of State to advise President Akufo Addo.

Hon. E.T Mensah has joined the race to be elected as the Greater Accra representative of the Council of State.

The elections are scheduled to be held today, Thursday, February 16.

A notice of poll published by the Electoral Commission, confirms Mr. E.T Mensah’s participation in the election. The former Sports Minister’s picture appears fourth on the right column.

The regional elections was originally scheduled to be held on Thursday, February 9, but the EC had to postpone it to allow the municipal, metropolitan and district assemblies prepare adequately for the exercise.

The Council of State consists of one representative from each region of Ghana, elected in accordance with regulations made by the EC under article 51 of Ghana’s constitution by an electoral college comprising two representatives from each of the districts in the region, nominated by the District Assemblies in the region, and eleven other members appointed by the President.

His inclusion in the Council of State election has come as a surprise to a section of the public as E.T Mensah is known to be a dyed in the wool NDC member.

But Acting General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu stated that should E.T Mensah be elected a member of the Council of State, his advise can’t be forced down President Akufo Addo’s throat.

“It shouldn’t be surprising to anyone should E.T Mensah to be elected as a member of the Council of State. If he advises President Akufo Addo, he may decide to take the advice or not. I believe if someone rises to that high level of having to advise a President, that person’s partisanship though may surface, he/she should look at the vision of the sitting president and advise him based on that. If E.T Mensah after being in public office close to three decades still wants to contribute to nation building, his fate will be decided by the electoral college that will be put together on voting day. We need that social engineering, that is why the NPP wants MMDCEs to be elected such that NPP could be in government but will have an NDC member being the MCE or DCE in an area…this will reduce tension in our politics.”