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A former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Dan Kweku Botwe, has advised his party members to avoid the path of sycophancy and stick to the dictates of the party�s constitution. According to the MP for Okere and former Information Minister, �as constitutionalists and pacesetters of democracy in the country, members of the NPP must follow due process at all times.� After the successful outcome of NPP�s Special Electoral College (SEC) on Sunday, there have been calls on the four other shortlisted presidential aspirants to bow out of the race for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, twice presidential candidate of the party, to be affirmed as the party�s candidate for the 2016 election, considering the margin of his victory. Some of its leading members, including Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor, former Minister of Defence the Interior, Mr Isaac Osei, Member of Parliament for Subin, as well as the party�s external branches made the calls. They argued that this would save the party money, time and logistics on the pending national congress. These resources, according to them, could be of better use during the electioneer�ing. At its SEC, Nana Akufo-Addo polled 598 votes out of 740 ballots cast, representing 80.78 per cent. His closest contender, Mr John Alan Kwadjo Kyerematen, obtained 59 votes, representing 7.98 per cent while Mr Francis Addai-Nimoh and Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Joe Ghartey, obtained 22 votes each, which is 2.98 per cent of total votes cast. Mr Osei Ameyaw had 16 votes, which is 2.17 per cent, to pick up the last ticket to the October 18 national delegates conference. Former Information Minister, Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, had 13 votes while former Trade Minister, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, secured 10, representing 1.76 per cent and 1.35 per cent respectively. This means that the two could not make it to the second stage of the race. But Mr Botwe disagrees with the suggestion, saying what the party did last Sunday was an important national exercise to simply prune down the number of aspirants from seven to five and not to elect a presidential candidate. �Cutting corners is against and breaches the party�s constitution; there is no short cut to the process;