It has emerged for the first time that the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was offered a plot of State Land under the erstwhile John Kufuor administration but rejected the offer. A close aide to Nana Addo, Gabby Otchere-Darko of the Danquah Institute, a policy think tank disclosed this on Citi FM’s Saturday political talk Show the “Big Issue”. According to Gabby Otchere-Darko, Nana Akufo-Addo did not acquire any State Land. He added that though as Foreign Minister, the International Students Hostel Area was under him, (Nana Addo) Mr Otchere Darko said when issues about the sale of the plots came up, Nana Addo made it clear to him, (Gabby Otchere-Darko) that he did not think it was ethical for the sector minister to benefit from any such public offer and that he had never acquired land from the state. Asked whether Nana Addo was offered any State Land, Mr Otchere Darko asked “by who? The Land Commission? I’m not aware of any such offer but what I do know is his ethical position on that matter” The government on Tuesday October 12, said it had halted with immediate effect, the “rampant disposal of state lands in some prime areas of Accra” under the Accra Redevelopment Policy. It also stated that a report from the National Security on the acquisition of such lands had been referred to the Attorney General’s office for advice on the future of the policy, which was instituted to facilitate the redevelopment of some government lands and houses in prime areas including Cantonments, Airport Residential Area, Kanda, Switchback and Ridge. A section of the public have argued that the retrieval of State Lands is politically motivated and targeted at ex government officials under the erstwhile Kufuor administration. However, a Deputy Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has argued otherwise. He told Citi FM in an interview that the exercise to retrieve state lands is not politically tainted but being done in a transparent manner. Gabby Otchere Darko told Citi FM that state lands acquired by ex government officials can only be retrieved if the lands were not acquired through a legal process. He added that anyone whose land is wrongfully taken from him should resort to the law court. Source: Citi