His rise in the NPP has been fast and dramatic owing to this relationship with President Nana Akufo-Addo, whose surrogates are very influential in the NPP now.
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Freddie Blay, from CPP MP to NPP chairman
His rise in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been fast and dramatic owing to this relationship with President Nana Akufo-Addo, whose surrogates control the NPP.
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READ MORE: Top pollster expects Blay to win
Mr Blay joined the NPP in 2011 and contested for the party's first Vice Chairmanship position in 2014.
He would later be made the acting chairman of the party when Paul Afoko, who was elected as the party's national chairman in 2014, was ousted from office.
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He steered the party to win its biggest electoral victory in the 2016 polls, amidst internal bickering.
Mr Blay has always been "NPP at heart," there's no doubt about that. So when he announced his decision to quit the CPP, it was not surprising to many political analysts.
Under the John Kufuor administration, he was made the first deputy speaker of parliament.
His name also came up strong for the speakership position but he was bypassed for Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye by his friend President Nana Akufo-Addo.
As the NPP goes to Congress today [July 7, 2018], Mr Blay's loyalty the NPP has come under scrutiny.
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A former Chief of Staff under the Kufuor administration, Kwadwo Mpiani, insists it was a mistake for Freddie Blay to have been elected First Vice Chair in the first place since he has no roots in the Danquah-Busia tradition.
“The chairman of a party is the number one person when it comes to the party so you must accord the person a lot of respect. You may not have voted for the person or like him/her but you are all in the same party,” he told Raymond Acquah on Upfront on Joy News, Wednesday.
He added: "He is a very good friend of mine but I never voted for him and I told him that I don’t think it was proper for us to have him as the First Vice Chairman."
All things being equal, Mr Blay is highly likely to emerge as the party's new chairman at today's delegates conference.
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