The Managing Editor of the Al Hajj Newspaper, Alhaji Bature Idrissu says Professor Stephen Adei does not appear to like President John Mahama and his government.

Professor Stephen Adei, former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) at a recent marriage seminar, described President John Dramani Mahama and his ministers as ‘liars’ who have refused to tell Ghanaians the true state of the economy.

According to him, Ghanaians must be told the truth if "we want to have a good country".

"They [must] be prepared to endure hardship and make sacrifices for a better future", he said.

"You live in a country where the President is lying; Ministers are lying; and everybody is lying. How can a Head of State stand in front of a country in this state of affairs and say that the economy is good? It is not good; things are hard," he stated.

He was alluding to President Mahama's comments in recent State of the Nation Address that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. 

Prof. Adei wondered why leaders drive in expensive vehicles to communities lacking potable water, electricity, motorable roads and food, yet claim that "the country is broke."

But speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem morning show on Wednesday March 19, Alhaji Bature disagreed with the former GIMPA Rector.

He maintained that to describe the sitting president as a ‘liar’ was to denigrate the Office of the President, adding that many elderly statesmen of the country are not happy with the John Mahama Presidency and are ‘doing everything to run him down.’ 

"Since the Supreme Court verdict, certain people in this country have made it their agenda to run down President Mahama’s Presidency since they did not want John Mahama to be President."

In a swift rebuttal, the Member of Parliament for Nkoranza North, Major Derrick Oduro (Rtd), strongly rebuked Alhaji Bature for his "unsavoury" comments, saying the former GIMPA Rector was only echoing what the larger society is saying about the performance of President John Mahama and the governing NDC.

He maintained that Alhaji Bature’s stature in sciety is "nowhere near" that of Prof Stephen Adei, and he therefore has no right to insult him.