NPP Chairmanship race: John Boadu welcomes Chairman Wontumi’s endorsement, vows to unite NPP

Former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, has welcomed the endorsement of his candidature by former Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi.

Chairman Wontumi, who is currently serving a prison sentence, withdrew from the National Chairmanship race on August 24, leaving Mr Boadu, former National Chairman Paul Afoko, former Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko and former Greater Accra Regional Chairman Sammy Crabbe as the four candidates who filed nominations for the position.

His campaign anounced the endorsement in a statement issued on Tuesday, September 8, by the administrator of the Wontumi Campaign, Dennis Okyere Danso, following consultations with Mr Wontumi, grassroots members, constituency actors, party elders, campaign leaders and other stakeholders.

The campaign team said the decision followed a visit by members of the Wontumi campaign leadership to Mr Boasiako at the Nsawam facility on September 4.

The Wontumi campaign said it would now deploy its grassroots network and organisational structures to support Mr Boadu’s bid, arguing that his institutional experience would complement its grassroots mobilisation strength.

Reacting to this in a statement issued on Wednesday, September 9, the John Boadu Campaign said it received the endorsement with “humility, gratitude and a deep sense of responsibility.”

“This gesture is much more than an endorsement. It is a powerful statement of confidence in John Boadu’s leadership and, more importantly, a significant call for unity at a critical moment in the history of our Party,” the campaign said.

The John Boadu Campaign said the two sides would work together to rebuild the NPP, strengthen its structures and restore the party to what it described as its “winning ways.”

“A John Boadu-led NPP will work assiduously with the Flagbearer and the Party’s esteemed legal team to pursue all legitimate legal avenues in the pending appeal and advocate for the earliest possible release of Chairman Wontumi, consistent with the rule of law and due process,” it said.