President-hopeful Afriyie Akoto defies NPP ban, holds campaign meeting with 90 delegates

Minister for Agriculture Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has met 90 delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) drawn from the five Northern Regions of Ghana to lay before them his vision of leading the party into 2024.

The meeting, which was held at GILLBT Guest House in Tamale, is in direct defiance of the NPP order to all flagbearer hopefuls of the party to cease and desist from any direct and indirect forms of campaigning until the ban was lifted.

The 90 NPP Delegates were from 18 Constituencies of the 5 Northern Regions of Ghana with each Constituency represented by 5 people.

The ambitious Dr. Afriyie Akoto who made no secret of his ambition to succeed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as leader of the NPP told the Delegates a vote for him is a vote for they themselves as research he has conducted showed he is popular in the 5 Northern regions already.

“We have been working with some of you for about six and seven months. I have reports from people who come here to do research, traders who come here from the south and all kinds of people and the result is showing that Owusu Afriyie Akoto in the Northern Region. Don’t you ever think you are doing the work for Owusu Afriyie but yourself”, he said.

Earlier, NPP General Secretary John Boadu had sent a strong warning to members aspiring to take over from Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as leader of the party to desist from campaigning as it breaches the party’s code of conduct and they could be punished if found culpable.

Meanwhile, leading figures of the party including Vice President Dr. Bawumia, Boakye Agyarko, Trade Minister Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten and the former Railways Minister Joe Ghartey, Bryan Acheampong among others are gunning to bear the flag of the party going into the 2024 polls.