The New Patriotic Party is raising red flags over what it says is the flagrant show of opulence by President John Mills and the National Democratic Congress ahead of its presidential primary in July. Nana Akomeah, Head of Communications of the Nana Akufo-Addo campaign team told Joy News the pomp and pageantry that characterized just the picking of forms by President John Mills took “opulence and profligacy to new heights.” “It has never happened before that the mere picking up of forms will be accompanied by so much pomp and so much ceremony. The buses we counted alone were 60 buses that had bused supporters from all over to takeover the streets of Accra; back-to-back TV coverage by the national broadcaster that cost 18,000 cedis; ministers of state dancing and singing and pouring adulations on the president for hours. All of this so that president can pick up just a form?” he quizzed. He said their concerns have been worsened all the more by allegations emerging from within the NDC that the Mills campaign team has budgeted an amount of GHS90 million for the July primary. “It is something that gives all of us cause for anxiety,” he lamented, adding that incident in which half the city was choked just because he (President Mills) was just going to pick a form was unfortunate. But the deputy Information Minister, Baba Jamal described the NPP allegations as sad and a fruitless attempt to equate the show of opulence by the NPP to that of President Mills. According to him, it was not the first time the party had paid for a live telecast of picking of the forms by the NDC and candidate Mills, noting that even in opposition the party paid for a live telecast. He said the expenses incurred for a live telecast was justifiable “because even when we telecast it live you saw the number of people who thronged to see the president. It also to ensure that people who wanted to come all across the country to see the event live.” Baba Jamal hinted the NPP has no moral justification to query the NDC for allegedly bringing activities in the city to a halt as a result of its political activity. He said in 2008 the NPP organized a rally in Kasoa in which people were caught up in traffic for close to six hours, nothing close to what happened when President Mills picked his form on Thursday. He said for the first time a sitting president had to conduct his campaign with his personal vehicles and equipment without falling on the state’s resources. That he said should be an indication that President Mills will use the state’s resources judiciously. But Nana Akomea in a banter said the NDC’s quick reference to activities in past to justify wrongdoings in the present will not augur well for the country and the credibility of politicians. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana