Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has dared Neat Fm radio presenter Adakabre Frimpong-Manso to lodge a formal complaint to the police if he claims that he (Akufo-Addo) threatened his life.

"Threats against the life of a person are a criminal act and we would encour­age Adakabre to lodge a formal complaint against Nana Akufo-Addo at the nearest police station, and subsequently the matter referred to the court of law," the NPP said in a statement on behalf of Nana Akufo-Addo.

NPP Boycott

The party's decision to boycott radio programmes hosted by Adakabre on Neat FM and Kwame Nkrumah Tikese of Okay FM - all belonging to the Despite Group - on the basis of bias, has apparently created a row between the party and Adakabre, who the party says has con­sistently denigrated its flag­bearer for no apparent rea­son.

The Neat FM man, who had stints with Adom FM and Hot FM, made the alle­gation in an interview granted to Joy FM after the NPP's decision was taken, claiming that Nana Akufo-Addo personally heaped abuses on him and also threatened his life; and insisted that he had since kept the threatening words on his mobile phone.

"Nana Addo abused and threatened me. I was so sad and scared but I kept quiet because I didn't want to be the fall guy through which something happens and they would say it is because of Adakabre so I kept quiet. I was afraid because...I was told to the face that 'you will be killed' at a specific date. I have all the evidence; I can substan­tiate them...I have every­thing on my phone. I have kept the phones and I would be willing to show it to anybody who wants to see them," Adakabre, a for­mer media coordinator for Alan Kyerematen's cam­paign team, boasted on Joy Fm on Monday.

He said he had to tell his father who subsequent­ly confronted Akufo-Addo in Kuniasi.

When asked if he made any complaint to the police, he replied in the negative, raising questions about the credibility of the claim.

He said emphatically that Nana Akufo-Addo issued the threats in the presence of two of his (Adakabre's) former col­leagues at Adom FM but the two have all denied his claim.

Reaction

The NPP reacted to what it termed an attempt to tag its flagbearer as a violent person and said the party would not look on unconcerned for its flag- bearer's reputation to be tarnished unjustifiably by Adakabre and his cohorts.

"We would like to state emphatically without any shred of doubt, that the statements made by Adakabre are completely false, unfounded and mis­chievously put out, all in the continuous attempts to tarnish the image of Nana Akufo-Addo and paint him as' an intolerant and violent person," the statement averred.

Propaganda Bandwagon

The statement, signed by a Deputy Communica­tions Director, Anthony Abayifaa Karbo, said, "It is not surprising that a known Akufo-Addo hater like Adakabre would join this NDC-led propaganda bandwagon aimed at dent­ing the image of Nana Akufo-Addo. Unable to defend their non-existent record of achievement and their abysmal management of the Ghanaian economy, which has brought untold hardships to the people of Ghana, the NDC and its minions have resorted to fruitless attempts to paint Nana Akufo-Addo black."