Chairman of the Nigerian branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kofi Atiemo-Gyan, has stressed the need for the leadership of the party to initiate talks with other opposition parties to wrest power from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Mr Atiemo-Gyan, a lawyer and president of the National Association of Ghanaian Communities in Nigeria in an interview with the DAILY GUIDE on a recent visit to Ghana said, “If NPP wants to capture power, you don’t stay in your house alone and use your family members to campaign or to look for power.”
He added, “You extend your hand to even the enemy to convince them” asking rhetorically, “What is the difficulty in embracing Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings into NPP?”
In 2012, the former first lady founded the National Democratic Party – a breakaway from the NDC – and became the nation’s first-ever female candidate to be endorsed by a political party to contest for the presidency.
But late filing of her papers meant she could not contest. She is said to be considering running again in 2016.
Kofi Atiemo-Gyan therefore, stressed the urgent need for the leadership of the NPP to begin behind- the-scene talks with leadership of various opposition (smaller) political parties to come together ahead of the 2016 general elections.
This, according to him, could enhance their chances of unseating incumbent the President John Mahama and his NDC from power.
“We should put pride aside and begin to talk to some people in those parties because if they are selling power and you sell your mother to go and buy that power, get the power first and use the power to go and take your mother back,” he emphasized.
The NPP Chair advised the current leadership of the party and the yet-to-be elected national executives not to take chances with the 2016 elections.
Mr Atiemo-Gyan also stressed the urgent need for the NPP to close their ranks by burying their individual differences in
the larger interest of the party ahead of the 2016 elections.