NPP gives green light to Afoko’s leadership bid as party council swats down last-minute challenge
An attempt to block Paul Awentami Afoko from seeking the top post within the New Patriotic Party has collapsed spectacularly, with the party’s National Council voting unanimously on Thursday, June 25, to permit the former party boss to proceed unchallenged toward a bid for restoration to that highest office.
A mystery petitioner had lodged a complaint seeking to disqualify Afoko from the forthcoming chairmanship race, yet the specifics of the grievance were never made public.
The matter landed before the Council of Elders, whose chairman brought it to the National Council for deliberation.
What followed was a rout. Speaker after speaker rose to defend Afoko’s right to contest, among them party luminaries, national officers and regional leaders whose interventions painted a picture of overwhelming support for his candidacy.
The party’s legal apparatus similarly weighed in against the petition, arguing that no legitimate grounds existed to bar him from participation.
The Council swiftly and decisively rejected the challenge, affirming in unison that Afoko possessed every qualification necessary to seek the chairmanship.
The dismissal clears the path for his participation in what promises to be a closely watched internal competition when the party convenes its National Delegates’ Conference in September 2026.
Many observers characterise the failed petition as a panicked eleventh-hour manoeuvre — a desperate gambit to derail momentum Afoko had generated since announcing his intentions to reclaim the party’s helm.
Afoko’s campaign message has crystallised around a singular preoccupation: rehabilitation of an institution fractured by the aftermath of the 2024 electoral loss.
His “3Rs” framework — Reunite, Rebuild, Recapture — maps a pathway toward bringing estranged factions back into fellowship, reconstructing organisational muscle that atrophied during the party’s time in opposition, and ultimately returning the NPP to governmental power.
The former chairman has barnstormed across the party’s territorial expanse, pitching a vision of reconciliation designed to bring back members who drifted away or found themselves marginalised during the interregnum.
He has also campaigned on redistributing respect and authority downward, pledging that polling station operatives, constituency officials and ordinary party members would enjoy greater voice in the party’s strategic calculus.
His platform emphasises concrete commitments: improved welfare packages for grassroots activists, better logistical support, and substantive inclusion in the deliberative processes through which party direction is set.
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