I consulted Akufo-Addo, Kufuor, NPP stalwarts before entering chairmanship race – Afoko

New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Chairman aspirant Paul Afoko says his decision to contest the party’s top executive position followed extensive consultations with party leaders and delegates across the country.

Mr Afoko said the engagements convinced him that there is a genuine desire among party members for unity and a collective effort to rebuild the NPP.

The former National Chairman made the remarks on Friday, October 2, a day before the party’s national officers’ elections in Kumasi.

“The reception has been very good and very encouraging. I know that we generally talk about, ‘Oh, you cannot trust delegates and all that’, but I sensed a certain sense of genuineness because once I had told them what I diagnosed our problem to be, which was a lack of unity, and that we needed to unite,” he told the media.

Mr Afoko said he deliberately took time to consult key figures within the party before announcing his candidacy.

He said his consultations included the NPP’s flagbearer Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, former Presidents Nana Akufo-Addo and John Agyekum Kufuor, members of the national executive, the Council of Elders and other leading party figures.

He subsequently toured the regions and engaged regional executives, councils of elders and patrons before deciding to enter the race.

“I then went around the country, and I spoke to every region I went to. I spoke to the regional executive, regional council of elders, and regional patrons. Every region, it was at the end of it all, which, as I said, is a feasibility study for me. Then I knew that this is something we could do. We could unite and go for power,” he said.

Mr Afoko has built his campaign around his “3R Agenda”; Reunite, Rebuild and Recapture, which focuses on restoring internal unity, strengthening the party’s structures and preparing it for a future return to government.

The former NPP National Chairman is contesting against former General Secretary John Boadu, former Greater Accra Regional Chairman Sammy Crabbe and former Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko.