As reported in the April 22, 2014 edition of The aL-hAJJ, overwhelmingly leading flag bearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa AKufo-Addo, is almost about ready to outdoor Mr Stephen Ayensu Ntim as leader of his possibly last presidential bid for the 2016 elections.
Having secured 80.9% of the votes cast at the recent party’s super delegates’ congress to prune down flag bearer aspirant from 7 to 5 which clearly has bolstered his chances of winning the October 18 presidential primary, Nana Akufo-Addo has begun oiling his campaign machinery for the main action in the next presidential election scheduled for 2016.
Though assigns of the twice defeated flag bearer aspirant have denied earlier reports by this paper that Nana Akufo-Addo had settled on Stephen Ntim as campaign manager immediately the latter lost the Chairmanship slot to Paul Afoko, fresh indications are that the Brong Ahafo born former NPP vice Chairman will step in the shoes of 2012 campaign Manager, Boakye Agyarko.
The choice of Stephen Ntim, according to sources close to Nana Akufo-Addo, is to decentralize the former Abuakwa South Member of Parliament’s 2016 campaign from how it used to be clustered with Akyem hardline politicians in the 2012 election.
Deep throat sources in Nana Akufo Addo’s kitchen cabinet told The aL-hAJJ that Mr Ntim, will finally be “outdoored as campaign manager soon after the party’s October 18 presidential primary.”
“Nana is our 2016 flag bearer…all the noise about a congress in October to elect flag bearer for the 2016 election is a mere formality. We have started preparing ourselves ahead of the real battle against the NDC, and Nana has settled on Ntim as campaign manager. At the right time, we will put the full list out but that will be after the October 18 congress,” a close confidant of Nana Akufo-Addo noted.
However, contrary to media reports that Mr Ntim, as a condition to accepting the offer, has requested that he be made the Chief of Staff in the event Nana Akufo-Addo wins the next presidential election, The aL-hAJJ can report on authority that defeated National Chairman Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey is still being considered for that post.
To compensate Jake, who secured a paltry 66 votes in the NPP’s Tamale congress to elect national executives, for the last minute betrayal that led to his heavy thrashing by Paul Afoko, Nana Akufo-Addo is said to have whispered to him to be bracing up for the Chief of Staff post he once occupied under the Kufuor administration.
Expectedly, Jake is to be deputized by defeated and acerbic former General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John, who has even before his defeat vowed to get Nana Akufo-Addo to lead the NPP into the 2016 elections even in a wheel chair.
Both Jake and Sir John were reported to have enjoyed Nana Akufo-Addo’s support ahead of the Tamale Congress, but the former was alleged to have been dumped at the last minute for Fred Oware for some comments he made during his campaign that seem to posed serious threat to Nana Akufo-Addo’s foothold on the party.
