I was sure of victory but 'leaked' tape made it massive - Asiedu Nketiah explains

Newly-elected National Chairman of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has disclosed that he was sure of victory in the December 17 chairmanship race.

The man who served for 17 years as General Secretary prior to the just-ended Congress where he beat incumbent Chairman Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo said his landslide victory may have been boosted by a last-minute tactic by his opponents who released a viral tape in which he was heard making some controversial comments.

"I did not know the margins by which the victory will come, I was cocksure of winning the election, as for what margin I did not know," he told Accra-based Accra FM 100.5 on December 19.

On the issue of the viral tape, largely referred to as a leaked tape, he said it was neither leaked nor did it serve the purpose for which it was released at the latter stages of the campaign.

Asiedu Nketiah addressed last week's viral tape in which he was captured saying his NDC side failed to collate its independent results from the 2020 polls due to the malfunction of an IT system installed by then-Chairman Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo.

"I won massively because of the said leaked tape. Even though the tape was not leaked at all, people branded it leaked tape to undo my campaign. Thus, ending up doing the magic for Saturday’s massive win.

"If I knew it was going to be the trump card for my victory, I would have paid for the media to play it, but the media ended up playing it for free because it was branded leaked tape," he remarked.

During the 10th National Delegates Conference of the party, Asiedu Nketiah won the National Chairman position, unseating Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo along with two other aspirants.

He polled 5,569 votes while his closest contender, the incumbent, polled 2,892 votes.

The other two candidates, Nii Armah Ashittey and Samuel Yaw Adusei polled 38 and 52 votes, respectively.

SARA