Wontumi chairmanship bid: 'Nothing stops anybody from buying NPP form but eligibility is determined by Vetting Committee' – Opare-Ansah

Chairman of the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) National Elections Committee, Fredrick Opare-Ansah, says incarcerated former Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, is free to pick up a nomination form for the party's 2026 national elections.

Mr Opare-Ansah, however, said obtaining a nomination form does not automatically qualify an aspirant to contest, as the final decision on eligibility rests with the party's Vetting Committee.

His comments follow reports that Chairman Wontumi had picked up a nomination form to contest a national executive position.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Friday, August 21, 2026, he said the Secretariat had no mandate to prevent any interested person from obtaining nomination forms.

“Nothing stops anybody from buying a form,” he said, adding “But I can tell you that the eligibility of aspirants is not determined by the Secretariat. It’s determined by the Vetting Committee.”

“So there is no barrier to anybody picking up forms. Indeed, the forms are available online. So you could actually download the forms and then come and file,” he stressed.

He maintained that any questions surrounding an aspirant's eligibility would be addressed during the vetting process.

“It is only when you appear before the Vetting Committee that if there is any reason why you cannot be cleared to contest, then that will come up,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said he was awaiting the Secretariat's final report before confirming whether Wontumi had formally picked up a form.

“I’ve gotten the statistics of how many people picked up forms today, and the breakdown: the Chairman category, the Vice-Chair category. I’m yet to receive the end-of-the-day report, which will tell me exactly which persons picked up forms,” he said.

The NPP has extended the deadline for filing completed nomination forms by two days, moving the closing date from Thursday, August 27, to Saturday, August 29, 2026.

The party said the extension was intended to give prospective aspirants more time to complete the filing process amid strong interest in the elections.