A former New Patriotic Party (NPP) chairman of the Korle Klottey constituency Nii Noi Nortey has pleaded with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to forgive him for going independent during the 2016 election.
Nii Noi Nortey lost the last re-run of the partyās parliamentary primary in the constituency by Philip Addison, who polled 396 votes.
Mr Nortey had before that been declared the winner in an earlier primary on August 2, 2015, but Mr Addison challenged the results in court, which was upheld, resulting in the re-run.
READ ALSO: Nii Noi Nortey details why he is going independent
Mr Nortey who subsequently decided to go independent said he was advised by his followers to do so.
But speaking on Agoo TV on his birthday, Wednesday May 3, 2017, Nii Noi said he regrets his decision and is, therefore, asking for forgiveness.
āIt hasnāt been easy⦠I will like to use this opportunity to forgive anybody who opposed me and also anyone who I might have offended,ā he said.
āWhen you are young you get people telling you to do all manner of things. However, I want to use this opportunity to ask for forgiveness and especially my political godfather ā former President J.A Kufuor. He even called me to rescind my decision [to go independent] but there were a lot of circumstances on the ground which didnāt allow that.ā
āI want to use this opportunity to apologise to the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo because he also called me to rescind my decision and I didnāt listen. I must say it wasnāt an issue of disobedience, but there was a lot of politics on the ground which I canāt go into.
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āYes, I regret going independent. The circumstances which led to that was unfortunate. In life sometimes you have to make some tough decisions. Iām really sorry to the big men I failed to heed their advice.
āIām apologizing to these big men ā Nana Addo, Kufuor, Bawumia ā including Anthony Karbo, Mustapha Hamid for all my actions.ā
āI donāt start a journey I canāt finish. I donāt think Iām ready for a position now. This is a genuine apology. I really love my party and I canāt turn my back on it. Itās rather unfortunate it ended up this way but Iām only asking for forgiveness,ā he said.