For a lawyer of his standing, and a flagbearer candidate who has been tagged for years with cocaine addiction, one would have thought that Nana Akufo-Addo would have long resorted to the law courts to silence his accusers and clear his name. But the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute and close confidante of Nana Akufo-Addo says the party for good reasons did not go to court to cure that mischief. According to him, the party had gathered intelligence suggesting that elements within the National Democratic Congress had lined up a tall list of coached witnesses who would falsely testify to have been sniffing cocaine with Nana Addo. “The intelligence that came was that they had lined up people who were willing to come to court to say that they even smoked cocaine with him,” he revealed. He said based on this intelligence report and the need to concentrate on bread and butter issues ahead of the 2008 elections the campaign team decided to trust the conscience of Ghanaians not to believe this cooked-up cocaine story by the NDC. “A lot of things have been said about people. But you think that Ghanaians will not believe that such a man who has devoted 35 years of his life giving exemplary leadership to this country would be reduced to a common cocaine addict,” he said. He was speaking on Joy FM’s Newsfile on the denial of cocaine addiction by Nana Akufo-Addo early this week. The NPP flagbearer had described allegations that he sniffs cocaine as sheer nonsense and challenged the accusers to adduce evidence or shut up. Critics say the denial has come rather late and that Nana Akufo-Addo ought to have responded to the issue a long time ago. But Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko who for most of the discussion on that particular issue was visibly emotional, maintained the NPP flagberaer had personally denied allegations of drug use on so many occasions. He accused the NDC and a section of security outfit of deliberately portraying Nana Addo as a drug addict for cheap political propaganda. According to him, the security forces under the Rawlings regime had attempted to brand Nana Addo as murderer but that back fired, saying they quickly resorted to the cocaine campaign against him. But the Editor of the Ghanaian Lens News paper, Kobby Fiabge who was also on the show said associates and close confidantes of Nana Addo have not done a good job in clearing the NPP flagbearer of the cocaine allegations leveled against him. According to him, attempts by Otchere Darko to redeem Nana Akufo-Addo from allegations of drugs only created doubts in the minds of the public and deepened perception that “the man is being hooked on drugs.” He also cited an alleged statement by Jake Obetsebi Lamptey that Nana Akufo-Addo had never smoked cigarette even in his life. This he said is an untruth because Nana Addo is known to be a cigarette smoker. "Maybe he stopped smoking. If you are doing that you create even more doubts in the minds of the [public]," he said. On the publication in the Ghanaian Lens newspaper that Nana Addo was in a detox, he said their publication was based on an interview Kofi Wayo had granted to the newspaper. Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah said their campaign on drugs in the 2008 elections was as a result of the fear that the country was gradually being turned into “Columbia.” He said the NPP had shown little political will in fighting the drug menace. He would not however condone the attacks on Nana Akufo-Addo as a cocaine addict, especially when there is no evidence to support it but said his demeanor in his denial was highly “unpresidential.” Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana