Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Ablekuma North, has issued a formal apology to the party’s National Council after defying a directive to boycott the recent parliamentary rerun in the constituency.
Addressing the media following a National Council meeting on Monday, July 14, convened to prepare for the party’s upcoming delegates conference, Akua Afriyie admitted her decision to contest the rerun was a mistake and pledged her continued loyalty to the NPP.
“All boils down to an apology, because that is my party and I will keep being NPP. We all make mistakes. If the party says you shouldn’t run, whatever it is, the matter has been resolved, an apology given, and we move on,” she stated.
The apology comes in the wake of her controversial participation in the July 11 rerun, despite the party’s rejection of the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to organise it. The NPP had maintained that Akua Afriyie legitimately won the December 2024 election and viewed the rerun as unjustified.
NPP General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong, at a press briefing on July 8, accused the EC of undermining the democratic will of the people, insisting that all pink sheets had been validated by polling agents and EC officials during the original contest.
However, the EC defended its decision, citing irregularities in the collation process, including missing validation signatures from presiding officers on pink sheets from 19 polling stations.
Despite the party’s directive, Akua Afriyie went ahead to contest the rerun and lost narrowly to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Ewurabena Aubynn, who polled 34,090 votes to Afriyie’s 33,881.