<<Print>>From all indications, Trade Minister Ekwow Spio-Garbrah is struggling to save his position, following claims that he is bracing up to contest President John Mahama for the flagbearership position of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
A week after he came out to distance himself from a group of supposed members of the NDC who claimed to support his candidature, a poster of Spio-Garbrah emerged, virtually launching his bid for the presidency. The poster, which has been designed in the red, green, white and black colours of the NDC, depicts a smiling Spio in a suit with the bold inscription, ‘VOTE Ekwow Spio-Garbrah FOR 2016’, and it has already started flying on social media.
This was said to have caused a stir in government circles, especially at the Flagstaff House, prompting questions over whether or not Spio, who once contested the position of NDC flagbearer but lost to the late President Atta Mills, is staging a comeback.
An initial statement was signed by Komla Ahedor, Prosper Nukpenu, Festus Yawson and Frimpong Debrah, leaders of the Friends of Dr Spio-Garbrah, who said “we are calling on our national executives to reconsider changing the above dates, by first opening nominations for presidential primaries and elections, before conducting the parliamentary primaries.” That, according to sources, was what compelled Spio to cause his aides to issue a statement denying any link with the initial statement from the supposed Friends of Spio-Garbrah who expressed concern over some clandestine moves by the leadership of the NDC to make incumbent President Mahama go unopposed.
A statement signed by his special aide, Mohammed Naziru said “we wish to state emphatically that Ekwow Spio-Garbrah has no knowledge or familiarity of such irresponsible and despicable acts by some who may not be even NDC party sympathisers,” insisting that “the names indicated as signatories to the press statement have never been part of the Friends of Spio-Garbrah since the formation of the group in 2006 until the group became defunct in 2009.” The statement entreated all members of the NDC to disregard faceless individuals seeking to create tension between the Minister of Trade and Industry and the NDC, and admonished the party’s sympathisers to support President Mahama in his efforts to change lives through the transformational agenda which seems to be suffering some major setbacks.
It said the security agencies had been informed by the office of the Trade Minister to investigate the identity and source of the ‘mischievous press statement’, expressing the confidence that the “faceless enemies of the NDC” who sought to disturb the current peace and unity in the party would be exposed.