Atik Mohammed, General Secretary of the People’s National Convention (PNC) says it was unnecessary for the flag bearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Addo to have held a forum to deliver an address on “The Real State of the Nation”.
The 2016 NPP Presidential Candidate delivered what his party termed as the real State of the Nation address following President John Dramani Mahama’s SoTN at Parliament last Thursday.
According to the NPP, the president’s speech did not reflect the crises confronting Ghanaians and believed he rather used the platform to campaign for the upcoming polls.
Speaking to a gathering at the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons in Accra on corruption, the economy, education and the energy sector, a couple of days after President Mahama’s SoTN address, Nana Addo described the former’s address as bearing very little resemblance to the reality on the ground.
“When the President of the Republic rose before Parliament, in fulfillment of his constitutional obligation, to deliver his Message on the State of the Nation, last Thursday, I watched on television in the hope that he would capture the mood and the difficulties that face our people daily. I waited to hear him admit that we are in a crisis and I willed him on to offer a glimmer of hope and ask all of us Ghanaians to help resolve the crisis in which we find ourselves. I wanted him to admit that ours was, indeed, a nation in crisis
“Unfortunately, millions of Ghanaians, including my humble self, waited in vain. President Mahama painted a picture that bore very little resemblance to the reality that is today’s Ghana….,” he stated.
But, contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo, Atik Mohammed believes inasmuch as President Mahama was evasive, especially on corruption, the NPP flag bearer’s version of the SoTN was “unnecessary”.
“…how do you expect people to be emboldened to fight corruption? But he (President John Mahama) was evasive when it came to corruption because he had his target. I am launching my campaign and in launching your campaign, you don’t want to speak so much about your weaknesses,” he stated, adding that Ghanaians needed more time to scrutinize assertions made by the president.
He noted that instead of critics deliberating on the content of President Mahama’s claims and pointing out the flaws, they have rather been compelled to dissect Nana Addo’s address.
He supported his claims with the explanation that Nana Addo’s real SoTN address has become a diversionary tool because it has turned people’s focus from the falsehood that was peddled by President Mahama.
To him, the NPP should have exercised some level of discretion and not held the forum to counter President Mahama’s SoTN address.
He stated categorically that “it was avoidable. And in my objective opinion, it was needless.”
