Deputy Minister of Information, Mr. Samuel Okudzato Ablakwa, has rubbished claims by flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, that the Mills-led NDC government has turned Ghana into a poverty-owning democracy saying the NPP flagbearer’s reference to a recent Gallup poll were like “bikinis” since “what they reveal is suggestive, but what it conceals is vital”.

According to him, the way and manner Nana Addo brandished the recent Gallup findings about was so frightening that a driver might smash up a car to smitterings upon hearing it.

To him, the NPP flagbearer had scored an “own goal using the Gallup polls” since poverty is a big issue which cannot be resolved in a matter of two or even eight years; which the NPP can attest to.

The 2012 Presidential Candidate of the NPP, made a major policy statement of his campaign at the 3rd International Conference of the NPP in Hamburg, Germany, on Saturday, June 11, in which he laid out his vision for Ghana.

In his hour-long speech, Nana Addo also gave a detailed account of the despondency that has gripped the nation under the government of President JEA Mills saying “a vote for change should not mean a vote for less money in people’s pockets.”

Referring to findings of a recent survey undertaken by world renowned pollsters, Gallup, in 18 African countries, which showed that under President Mills, 12.7 million people, representing 53% of the entire population, cannot afford the cost of food, the NPP flagbearer said, “Those who admit to living comfortably have dropped from 20% in 2007 to 4% of the population in 2010. In 2007, 11% of Ghanaians said they were suffering under severe economic hardships. Two years into the so-called ‘Better Ghana’ agenda of President Mills, the number of Ghanaians who cannot cope at all with the harsh economic realities has shot up by a whopping 210%, from 11% of the population to 34%.”

But contributing to a panel discussion on JoyFM’s NewsFile programme, the deputy Information Minister said he is of the conviction that Nana Addo did a percentage jump in his findings in order to find fault with President Mills' administration, thus resulting in the “bikini statistics” he (Nana Addo) churned.

“You don’t do that with statistics, it is a serious business and it is scientific. You don’t just for your expedience take 2007 figures, which is a big figure and heap it on Professor Mills for people to cheer you, yeah-yeah,” Mr. Ablakwa said.

He accused the NPP flagbearer of “intellectual dishonesty” and mischief to push his presidential ambition going.