A flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Afriyie Akoto has asked his supporters to ignore what he calls are “sponsored polls” which claim his competitors are ahead of him. 

The former Agriculture Minister said the pollsters are doing the bidding of their paymasters. 

According to him, should he be interested in sponsoring such a poll, the outcome will favour him. 

Dr Afriyie Akoto while receiving his nomination forms from his supporters who picked the forms for him, urged the media to also be circumspect in publishing such reports.  

“The thing is that I have never sponsored any poll, find out who is sponsoring those polls. If I sponsor a poll they will say that I am vexed, but I won’t because it is self-defeating, it doesn’t serve any purpose so all the polls can say anything that they want.

“We know what we are doing on the ground. All the polls can say what they want, but we are talking about the 900 people who will be voting in the super delegates [conference] and the 200,000 delegates who will vote in November. We should be questioning the basis of these polls.”

The NPP will elect its flagbearer for the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections in November and so far 11 aspirants have declared their intention to contest for the position. 

However, since Friday, May 26 when nominations opened, five persons have so far picked the nomination forms which cost GH¢50,000.

These include Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, a former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, a former General Secretary of party, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, a former MP for Mampong, Francis Addai-Nimoh and a former Agriculture Minister, Dr Owusu Afryie Akoto.