After spiritedly rejecting the Electoral Commissions verdict that the New Patriotic Party’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, polled 47.7 percent to place second in the 2012 elections, acerbic tongue former General Secretary of the NPP, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, has finally given a clean bill of health to the EC’s declared results in the last presidential election.
While admitting for the first time that that the National Democratic Congress’ John Dramani Mahama, indeed beat Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2012 election, the former General Secretary, popular known as Sir John, however, revealed that the twice defeated NPP presidential candidate is working assiduously to garner not less than 52% of votes in the forthcoming 2016 polls.
Addressing the Toronto-Chapter of the NPP at 350 Grand Ravine Drive last month, Sir John, who was chief architect in his party’s decision to challenge the 2012 presidential results in court without mincing words, said Nana Akufo-Addo could not win the 2012 election because he polled only 5.2 million votes.
In order to grab the 50 percent-plus-one vote in 2016, Sir John revealed that Nana Akufo-Addo is working ‘hard’ to win at least five percent of the swing votes to cross the 50% mark to enable him seal his childhood dream of becoming president in next year’s elections.
The NPP led by then National Chairman, Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey and Sir John, rejected results of the presidential election that elected NDC’s John Mahama as winner of the 2012 polls, insisting that it was poised to use all legal means to overturn the EC’s declaration.
At a press conference immediately after the EC’s declaration, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, flanked by Sir John, Nana Akufo-Addo, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and other NPP chieftains, said “from the abundant evidence we have gathered, the NPP cannot therefore accept the declared results of the elections”.
He stated that the party had instructed its legal team to file a petition at the Supreme Court to challenge what it described as 'illegitimately declared elections' in accordance with Article 64 of the Constitution of the Republic.
“The party can now state with confidence that it possesses incontrovertible evidence that the votes of the Presidential candidate of the ruling party, President John Dramani Mahama were fraudulently inflated in many constituencies and the votes of the Presidential candidate of the NPP on the other hand were reduced in many instances,” he added.
However, in the cause of the novel election petition hearing at the Supreme Court, the NPP abandoned those allegations that President John Mahama’s votes were padded to deny Nana Akufo-Addo victory, and instead relied on allegations of statutory omissions such as absent of presiding officers’ signatures, lack of serial numbers among others.
Even when the apex court of the land eventually affirmed President Mahama’s election as president, the NPP has persistently claimed that Nana Akufo-Addo won the 2012 election, with Sir John playing a lead role in that vicious claim.
But as the reality seemed to have dawned on the foul mouth former General Secretary, he has finally validated the EC’s declaration that the NPP 2016 flag bearer indeed polled only 47.7 percent of total votes cast in the 2016, for which reason he could not be declared president.
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