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Reports that opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was given cold shoulders by the chief of Akyem Ayirebi when he paid a visit to the area, are not true, the party’s first vice-chairman in the Eastern Region, Alhaji Umar Bodinga has denied.

The governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the constituency released a press statement on Monday July 11, stating that Mr Akufo-Addo was rejected by the Akyem Ayirebi chief when he visited the area last week.

According to the NDC, even though the NPP often followed up with reports about its flagbearer’s activities after touring a constituency, there had been nothing on Mr Akufo-Addo’s visit to Ofoase Ayirebi and the NDC had asked the party to come out and inform Ghanaians about what transpired there.

Following the silence of the opposition party on the said tour, the NDC said it felt obliged to come out with the revelation that the Akyem Ayirebi chief had told the three-time presidential aspirant “emphatically that Nana Addo cannot deceive them with his unachievable campaign message”.

But reacting, Alhaji Bodinga said the story was “not the least true”, since journalists accompanied Mr Akufo-Addo on his tours and could have informed the public if such an incident happened.

Speaking to Chief Jerry Forson on Accra100.5FM on the station’s breakfast show, Ghana Yensom, Alhaji Bodinga explained that: “The first port of call was Ayirebi where the chief held a grand durbar to welcome the NPP flagbearer in the public square, instead of the palace. The chief and his people welcomed Nana Addo. What I remember the chief saying was that they the chiefs could not dabble in politics, but were ready to give their backing to anyone pursuing a good agenda and wished him well so that if, God-permitting, he became president and implemented the one-district, one-factory policy, he would remember the people of Ayirebi. That’s all the chief said.”

Alhaji Bodinga warned executives of the Ofoase Ayirebi branch of the NDC to be “cautious” with their remarks regarding the chief, given his standing and refrain from attributing untrue statements to him, saying spewing lies about traditional authorities had its own ramifications.