Petitioners �Snubbed� Ayikoi Otoo�Did Not Want Him As Lead Counsel � Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe

After his masterful legal defense on Wednesday which culminated in General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie and a member of the Young Patriots, Hopeson Adorye, receiving only fines instead of incarceration by the Supreme Court, many have questioned why one time Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Nii Ayikoi Otoo was not chosen to act as Lead Counsel for the Petitioners in the on-going Election Petition Suit. A leading member of the opposition party appears to have the answer. Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe, who is a founding member of the NPP claims he has empirical evidence to show that the views of the former A-G in the erstwhile Kufuor led administration was not sought before the petition was filed. He further disclosed that notwithstanding Ayikoi Otoo�s expertise as a legal luminary and Chairman of the party�s Legal Committee, the petitioners; Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (Flag bearer), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia (running mate) and Jake Obetsebi Lamptey (Party Chairman), decided against having him (Ayikoi) as their lead counsel. �He (Lawyer Nii Ayikoi Otoo) is a known chairman of the legal committee of our party (NPP). Anything pertaining to legal matters, he has it under his control�So naturally, if there is anything concerning law, he should be the first person to have been consulted by anybody in the party unless the petitioners are acting not on behalf of the party. �..Now, Ayikoi Otoo and I know that for a fact that he wasn�t consulted. And I know that for a fact also that Ayikoi Otoo made every effort to get on the legal team but was tossed here and there. Anyone can cross check if I am telling lies. As human as he is, he gave up�,� he revealed in an interview with Asempa FM. Clearly elated at the former A-G�s ability to save the NPP duo from being imprisoned for contempt, the outspoken NPP bigwig opined that had Ayikoi Otoo been part of the petitioner�s legal team things would not have panned out this way. ��it was the work of God. God wants us to know that, if he (Ayikoi Otoo) had been among the lawyers, we might have had a more comfortable ride because the man has experience�in any profession, experience counts a lot and the experience Ayikoi Otoo has was what he demonstrated in court and everybody saw it,� Dr Nyaho Tamakloe added.