Bugri Naabu to return Prez. Mahama’s bribe

• Posted on December 5, 2016
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says the Northern Regional Chairman of the party, Daniel Bugri Naabu, will return the alleged car and money bribe given to him (Naabu) by President John Dramani Mahama and his brother, Ibrahim Mahama.

According to Nana Akufo-Addo, Bugri Naabu accepted the bribe from President Mahama as a proof of his (Naabu’s) claim.

“He himself has decided what he is going to do with it…that he will return the money, that is my understanding; that is what he has told me. That he is going to return the money. He kept the money for proof; but now that the matter has come out he intends to return the money.  He told me the story about this matter before it became public,” Nana Addo told a number of radio stations yesterday.

The NPP had dropped the bombshell at a press conference in Accra, alleging that the president and his brother (Ibrahim) tried to bribe Bugri Naabu with a brand new V6 Mitsubishi Pajero, GH¢500,000 with additional promise of a brand new V8 Toyota Land Cruiser and GH¢3.3 million for him to resign from the party and paint Nana Akufo-Addo as a dictator and “an anti-Northerner.”

“Around the same time, Ibrahim Mahama had tried to convince Bugri with money to leave the NPP to become a chief after Daniel Bugri Naabu’s uncle died, but Bugri refused,” the NPP had said.

Confirmation

Mr Bugri Naabu subsequently confirmed the attempted bribe by President Mahama and his brother.

He stated that “I don’t need bribe. If I needed bribe I would have pocketed the money they gave me and the cars and the promise of other money which is supposed to come. I would have done it.”

He claimed he was already wealthy when President Mahama was a student.

“When I started buying cars Mahama was a student at Ghana College (Ghanasco). He himself told me that I was having some cars and other things, and today you are presenting GH¢500,000 to me and a car. As for me I don’t need anybody to give me money.

“If John Mahama wanted to give me money, he would have given me money when he became the vice president. Is today that he knows that I need money? Today that you are failing you are calling me to come. I won’t come,” Bugri Naabu told journalists in Tamale.

Kyebi As Capital

Nana Akufo-Addo also rubbished vile propaganda by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) elements that he intends to relocate Ghana’s capital from Accra to his hometown, Kyebi in the Eastern Region, when he wins the December 7 election.

He described the allegation as ‘malicious’ and said all that the Mahama-led NDC government has been doing as the general election approaches is to divide Ghanaians along ethnic lines.

“They say when I come to power I will relocate the capital of Ghana to my hometown. What is the capital going to do in Kyebi? I have no intention in doing that at all,” Nana Akufo-Addo told Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM in Accra yesterday, adding that “it is a pity that this is the level of engagement they want to bring to Ghanaians. It’s like they don’t respect Ghanaians. What will make me, within a short period of presidency, move the capital from Accra to Kyebi because I am from there?”

The NPP leader took time to explain many policies the party intends to implement under his leadership when it wins the crucial contest on Wednesday, saying that job creation is his priority.

Smear Campaign

The NDC has been floating emails they claim are coming from Nana Akufo-Addo in which there are plans to relocate the capital to Kyebi where he was once a Member of Parliament (MP), but the NPP standard bearer said the speculations were false. “I don’t even send emails.”

“The capital of Ghana was brought to Accra from Cape Coast over 100 years ago. I’m shocked that someone will say that I’ll move the capital from Accra to Kyebi. This spurious claim is not different from what was leveled against President Kufuor by his detractors prior to the 2000 election, that he’ll take the sea from Accra to Kumasi in his home region when he wins power. It is petty that those we are contesting in this election will descend to this level of engagement. It is as though we don’t respect Ghanaians,” Nana recounted.

He wondered, “How on earth can someone say such a thing? How can it happen that in the short while that I become president, I’ll ignore this huge development in Accra and move the capital to Kyebi, because I came from the town.

“I think some people don’t understand that you come onto the scene to work for the progress of the country. If you are from Bole, does that mean you must only care about people from Bole?”

He also rubbished the claim that he was going to raise the status of the Okyenhene when he becomes president, saying, “I don’t understand why someone will come out with such malicious allegations; that I will elevate the position of Okyenhene just because of politics.

“I’m not trying to come to power to develop only Kyebi and make Okyenhene more powerful like it’s being alleged. My goal is to develop the entire country and introduce policies and programmes that will enhance the living conditions of Ghanaians.”

He said that the smear campaign against him by President Mahama and his party would never make him lose focus on helping to secure a better future for the country.

Police Selectivity

Nana Akufo-Addo berated the selective law enforcement being exhibited by the security agencies, particularly the police administration, and said it does not aid the consolidation of democracy in Ghana.

He cited instances where a cabinet minister’s brother openly declared that he has been killing people in Asunafo in the Brong-Ahafo Region but the police had not even invited him to establish the veracity of the claim.

He said the NPP is committed to ensuring a peaceful election but stressed that the party is going to be vigilant so that it is not shortchanged in the process.

Threat

He said that the president’s lack of vision with its attendant incompetence had unleashed bad governance on Ghanaians and killing the dreams of many people, especially the youth.

“Ghana is sitting on gold but because of bad governance by President Mahama, Ghanaians are suffering. His leadership style is a threat to the future of this country,” Nana Addo observed.

Show Boy

He said when given the mandate to lead Ghana, he would like to be remembered as a president who worked hard to bring prosperity to the country because a future NPP government will commit itself to total economic development, shaped by better policies and programmes.

“My aim is to create jobs in the city and across the country. People will laud me for that rather than changing the capital to my hometown. I will be nicknamed the ‘Show boy’ for that. That is what I want to do,” he said.

By William Yaw Owusu