Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says he is totally embarrassed and disgusted by the manner in which opposition New Patriotic Party flag-bearer, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo has handled the “quagmire of drug allegations” around him. According to the deputy minister, by failing to extricate himself from the drug allegations and other issues as well as questionable characters, Nana Addo is showing what competence he will bring to bear on issues confronting the nation. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa was contributing to Radio Gold’s Alhaji and Alhaji’s discussion of a publication by the AfricaWatch Magazine that a relative of Nana Addo presently working as a member of his presidential bid team was once convicted in Germany for money laundering. He said it is worrying that Nana Addo moves from one scandal to the other and appears to be sinking deeper and deeper in his endeavour to lead the nation and yet does virtually nothing to give a more credible testimony of his competence to manage the nation. Describing Nana Akufo-Addo as a potential leader of the country, Okudzeto Ablakwa said given that the NPP flag-bearer, while addressing the youth about a year ago in Tamale “averred strongly” that he had not seen how drugs looked like before, it would have been more welcoming if he had taken the challenge to submit to a drug test to settle the drug allegations surrounding him. “It is important to make the point that if you cannot handle such issues that come about in your campaign…, you cannot get yourself out of a quagmire of drug allegations, you cannot distance yourself from questionable characters, then what will you do as president, what can you handle as president?” According to the Deputy Minister, one’s competence should not be measured only when the person is given a high office, but “we should be able to judge the competence of our leaders as is done everywhere in the world - even as the head of the family, even as the head of a committee, even as a DCE or as a member of parliament, even as a flag-bearer. The competent manner in which you handle such allegations will show to a large extent the competence you will bring to bear in creating jobs for our people, in providing water for our people, providing electricity for our people…”. Had Nana Addo taken the drug test, or taken steps to distance himself from persons alleged to have been either convicted or arrested for drug and other issues but who are still close to him, Okudzeto Ablakwa said it “would have reflected a certain serious posture, a certain posture that exudes commitment at addressing important national issues and important moral issues.” He explained that recent global instances point to the fact that no one politician takes allegations of morality lightly, more so when the office Nana Addo seeks to lead - the presidency - grants such enormous powers as to be able to even sign the death warrant or commit a nation to war. “So anytime that serious questions are being raised about the extent to which as a leader, you will always be conscious that you will never be under the influence of any suspicious substances, it is a legitimate question and it should not be seen as a mere political propaganda. Far from that, it should be seen within the context of the safety and security of our nation and our people.” Okudzeto Ablakwa maintained that if morality were not important, it would not have been enshrined in the 1992 constitution and presidents would not become impeachable if they are not morally upright. But besides the morality issues, he said Nana Akufo-Addo has himself made his family background an important part of his campaign and dies not shy away from touting the pedigree of his family members, otherwise there was no point in tying a politician to what his family member engages in or what their records are.