Accra, Nov. 1, GNA - Mr. Felix Owusu-Adjapong, one of the 19 presidential hopefuls of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), on Thursday debunked allegations that he was in the contest to front for another candidate, saying "I am in this contest to its possible fullest length, Insha Allah."
He made the statement at a press conference in his Ridge Estates residence moments after he submitted his nomination forms at the party headquarters to contest the party's presidential slot at the December 22, 2007 national delegates' congress.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong was the 15th aspirant to submit his nomination forms and is yet to be vetted.
He noted that prior to the submission of his forms he had heard several rumours that he would not waste his 250 million cedis to file his nominations since he was only fronting for another candidate. However, Mr Owusu-Adjapong rebutted the claim saying, "I did not resign my ministerial post only to front for another candidate." He said the challenges of the time required someone of his calibre, with a track record of serving and unifying the party to lead the party to victory in the 2008 elections and he would therefore not miss the opportunity for anything.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong kicked against recent opinion pools published in the media to the effect that he was not in contention at all. "I have met the real kingmakers myself and they have told me that if I behave myself between now and congress time they would consider me for the presidential slot."
He said on his tour of the country he met with all 10 executives of each of the 230 constituencies, adding that having a good feedback from them guaranteed him the votes of at least four possible delegates from each constituency.
"The executive and the real kingmakers told me that none of those so-called opinion pool experts have spoken with them so I am not moved by those pools at all. Besides I think if those surveys were carried out with the right questions the results would have been different," he said.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong said he also gathered from his interactions with potential delegates that they were not moved by the noises being made by other aspirants because the contest was not about the crowds that followed an aspirant but the aspirant's own track record as viewed by the delegates.
He observed that reports of some District Chief Executives (DCEs) trying to influence the party's electoral process by selecting and making a list of possible delegates was a violation of the party's constitution.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong warned that DCEs found to be involved in such practices would be sanctioned in accordance with the electoral guidelines of the party.
"Our DCEs must know that they are grand children of the party and they have no constitutional mandate to influence the process in any way - they can only go as far as giving courtesies to aspirants but not to do anything to favour one aspirant over the other," he said. Mr Owusu-Adjapong urged DCEs to read the party's guidelines and be advised accordingly else they risked the danger of facing the consequences of their action.
Touching on the rumour about President John Agyekum Kufuor's support for a particular candidate, he noted that the president had assured all aspirants, and him in particular, that he would do no such thing.
"If I find evidence to the contrary I would raise the issue with the president and if he does not give me any positive answer I will change my mind about him. Till then I still respect him as a gentle and honest giant who would not lie to me."
Mr Owusu-Adjapong, however, pointed out that like every individual party member the president could vote for a particular aspirant provided he had a vote at the congress and that would not be the same as campaigning for that aspirant.
He assured delegates that when given the opportunity to lead the party in the 2008 elections he would stop at nothing to ensure that he delivered the presidential seat to the party again in 2009. "As president, I would ensure that locally produced goods would be given priority over imports - the second best locally produced goods would be comparable to the best from outside and it would be a state policy for the state to buy from local producers first." He said his government would go beyond pegging the improvement of the economy on general growth in the macro-economic indicators to ensuring real improvement in the specifics and micro indicators such as income levels and employment.
Earlier when Mr Owusu-Adjapong submitted his nomination forms, party General Secretary, Nana Ohene Ntow congratulated him for his commitment to lead the party and stressed that the fact that 19 stalwarts were contesting and 15 had submitted their forms so far was testimony that the party's claim of having abundance of presidential material was the truth.
He, however, sounded a note of caution to aspirants that out of the possible 19 only one would win and the 18 losers should make a commitment not to do anything to mar the chances of the party at the 2008 elections.
"Beyond December 22, 2007 we must still be one family and continue to strengthen the party we have built over the year - we must understand that the one who will be elected flag bearer of the NPP in December would also be the next president of Ghana so we can't do anything to destroy that," he said.
Nana Ntow also cautioned the media to be circumspect in their reportage on the vetting of aspirants saying that the process was just an administrative one and was not a witch-hunting ploy to kick any aspirant out of the contest.
In that regard he debunked the allegations by a local newspaper that Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku was in trouble for not showing up for vetting on Wednesday.
"Dr Apraku is not in trouble at all. When we invited him for vetting he was outside the country, but he has promised to make himself available for vetting immediately he returns from his trip," he said. Mr. Owusu-Adjapong's submission on Thursday meant that the NPP had raked in 4.70 billion cedis from aspirants since nominations were opened.
