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Timely Intervention: Akufo-Addo Bails Out Broke NPP With GHC600,000

By CitifmOnline.com
NPP Timely Intervention: Akufo-Addo Bails Out Broke NPP With GHC600,000
OCT 17, 2014 LISTEN

Presidential hopeful, Nana Akufo-Addo, has come to the rescue of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) by donating Ghc600,000 to finance the October 18 national congress.

He made the donation after reports suggested that the party might be forced to postpone its much anticipated October 18 national delegates congress due to lack of funds.

The Greater Accra Regional campaign coordinator for Nana Akufo-Addo, who disclosed this said, Nana Addo has also made provisions to transport delegates to and from polling centres on that day.

“Nana Addo wants to assure delegates that he is going to make provisions for them to be able to transport themselves to the voting centres and then go back to their respective homes,” he said.

Barely two days to the October 18 congress, the party is said to be struggling to raise the needed funds to hold the exercise.

The Electoral Commission (EC), which is supervising the exercise has also indicated it has not yet received the party's voters register, stressing that any further delay in making the register available to them could impede the exercise on Saturday.

These challenges compelled the party's steering committee to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to find a possible way out.

But the chairman of the NPP's Election Committee, Alhaji Alhassan Bin-Salih has dismissed claims that the congress is likely to be postponed.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Henry Quartey, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso Central disclosed that the finance committee of the NPP which was tasked to raise funds for the congress could not meet their target.

According to him, the party's leadership in Parliament subsequently agreed that incumbent MPs in the 123 constituencies should foot the bills of the exercise in their respective constituencies.

He said Nana Addo intervened because he was informed that “[16 MPs] have not been able to do so bearing in mind that we are only two days away from the election and that is creating fear and panic among delegates in the orphan [new] constituencies.”

The MP claimed that this is not the first time Nana Addo is supporting the activities of the party with funds saying, “in 2010, he single-handedly financed the entire exercise.”

Quartey however emphasized that Nana Addo's support is not aimed at inducing delegates to vote for him on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the National Treasurer of the NPP, Abankwah Yeboah, has denied knowledge of the financial support from Nana Akufo-Addo.

“I am not aware that Nana Addo has given any such money…National Headquarters has provided the security to be able to get the work done and also provide a place where the declaration will be done. To the best of my knowledge, they [national headquarters] have been able to provide all the financial support to get all these done,” he said.

The NPP will on Saturday head to the polls to elect a flagbearer who will lead the party into the 2016 general elections.

The three aspirants contesting the position are; Nana Akufo-Addo, Francis Addai-Nimoh and Alan Kyeremanten.

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