Akufo-Addo is too tired to contest for President 2016 - Ade Coker

The Greater Accra NDC Chairman, Mr. Ade Coker, says the twice-defeated presidential candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party is too tired to vie for the presidency for the third time.

He is, therefore, advising member of the NPP who are goading Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo on to make a third bid for the highest office of the land to desist from pushing the near septuagenarian to his own doom.

According to Ade Coker, the NPP presidential candidate for the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections was having health problems and should be allowed to live in peace.

Nana Akufo-Addo who, last Thursday, lost a Supreme Court verdict that could have made him president, signaled in his concession speech that he wants to rest and have time with his family.

Ashanti Regional chairman of the opposition NPP, F.F Antoh, and others are lobbying to have him retained unopposed as the party's presidential candidate for 2016. Nana Akufo-Addo will be 72 then.

But in reaction, Ade Coker believes that after nearly 50 years of active politics, the NPP stalwart ought to allow other potential candidates to contest the enviable position. He said he was speaking for the "larger society".

The NDC Chairman cited Michael Ampong, an NPP communicator arguing against any attempt by the NPP General Secretary Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie to field Nana Akufo-Addo in the party's next flagbearership contest. He said some politicians are trying to use Nana Addo's clout to enhance their own political careers.

He noted that "currently he [Nana Addo] has health problems [and] has been going for check up....the man is tired".

He counseled Nana Akufo-Addo that "at this age you are now becoming a statesman, keep it that way and mentor somebody to come on board". He called on the leaders in the party not to force him.

According to the NDC Chair, Akufo-Addo seeking a third-term bid suggests there is no capable replacement in the NPP to contest John Mahama in 2016.

This is usually the mentality of president's like Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe who are afraid to give up power because there is nobody to protect their interest, he said.

"Enough is enough...time is up" Ade Coker concluded.