Former presidential candidate of the All People’s Congress (APC), Hassan Ayariga, has dismissed claims that the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has formally written to him regarding the ongoing controversy over the use of academic titles.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Monday, August 18, Mr. Ayariga said he has not received any official communication from the Commission and accused some individuals of deliberately seeking to tarnish reputations.

“So in that letter, they said, ‘in the light of your inability to provide the required document, you are hereby directed to immediately cease the use of the title Doctor, and additionally, you must provide verifiable evidence that the title has been removed from all platform, including, but not limited to official social institution’.

"You see clearly, this is the first letter they are writing to me, and you are writing a letter asking me to provide ABC and D. In the same letter, you are asking me to stop using A, B, C and D. What is the essence of that letter?”

He stressed that GTEC has never served him with any official correspondence.

“And as we speak today, let me be very honest and clear to you, I have not received the letter from GTEC to date. Until today, there has been no evidence of them serving me a letter.

"I don’t have a letter from GTEC, as we speak, and if you want, put them on the phone to prove to you that they have given me a letter. So you see, there’s some kind of an agenda to destroy people’s reputation.”

According to him, such actions threaten the hard-earned image of individuals and institutions must tread carefully.

“And when you are destroying people’s reputation, you have to be very careful, because it is very difficult to build a reputation. So you must ask questions like an institution, a proper institution.”

Mr. Ayariga argued that the approach by GTEC was inconsistent and unprofessional.

“So you write to us, you write to a Dr, and then we are requesting him to do ABC. You give him timelines... 'We are giving you from this day...' See, I’m not your worker. I have not come to your office, and I’ve submitted a CV, whereby you are in a rush to verify my CV, to see whether I am qualified to get that job or not.”