Outgoing Eastern Regional Minister Ambassador Victor Emmanuel Smith has apologized to the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panyin, over attacks on his person by some National Democratic Congress (NDC) faithful following his visit to the Flagstaff House last Wednesday. The Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, led by Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori-Panyin, visited President John Mahama to congratulate him on his electoral victory and urged him to willingly accept the outcome of the petition filed at the Supreme Court by the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The president assured the chiefs that he would abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling, whatever it might be. Eastern Regional executives of the NDC criticized the Okyenhene for bringing up the Supreme Court matter, accusing him of visiting the president in order to serve NPP interests. A statement issued and signed by Ambassador Smith said, “the Press Release by the Party’s Regional Executives unfortunately was based on an erroneous belief that I, as Regional Minister, had taken the Regional House of Chiefs to the Presidency for them to request His Excellency to retain me as Regional Minister in the Region. Nothing could be further from the truth. “The fact is that, the Presidency had drawn up a schedule for all ten (10) Regional House of Chiefs to visit with the President. This was done to accommodate requests by individual chiefs requesting on their own to pay courtesy calls on the President on his assumption into office. “I wish therefore to use this platform to set the records straight and to apologize profusely on behalf of the Party in the Region to the Regional House of Chiefs, and Okyenhene in particular, who was cited in person in the altercations on the airwaves in rather disparaging language,” it concluded.