Nana Akufo-Addo has urged his supporters not to be provoked by comments or actions that can jeopardise the unity of the New Patriotic Party.

In a statement released barely 24 hours after his fierce rival, Alan Kyeremanteng, said Akufo-Addo will not be the right candidate to win power for the biggest opposition party come 2016; the 2012 flagbearer of the NPP said, "this is but a contest between members of one family, the Great Elephant family. We must, therefore, be guided and guarded constantly by an uncompromising sense of unity, fellowship and greater purpose”.

Mr. Alan Kyeremanteng told NPP’s New York Chapter that, "I think that we have our own senior brother, Nana Akufo Addo. He’s represented the party very well on two previous occasions. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, it’s not been possible for us to get into power. I think that we must explore other opportunities and that is why I will be putting myself up as a candidate when the nominations open and I am here to seek your support”.

“The challenge that we have is not convincing our core voters in the party,” he explained. “… Almost invariably you can imagine that if everything goes well you can expect that our core voters will vote for us. The difference lays in how we convince the swing voters …

“Let us try to understand the psychology of these swing voters…” he explained. “They are swing voters because there are not aligned necessarily to any party. When you want to deal with a floating voter you’ve got to understand his psychology and almost invariably it is a question of this is the man I want… The advantage that I have is that I have an appeal, somehow, to these floating voters.”

“We have a margin of between 300[000] and 500,000 people who always decide the final vote and so I ask for your support because if indeed we can all work together to put me as the next flagbearer, I can assure you that 2016 we’ll be back in power,” Mr. Kyeremanteng stated.

However, Nana Akufo-Addo says he is a firm believer of the principles of competition and choice which the NPP represents and trusts that delegates of the party will, "choose the candidate who they believe will best serve the interests of the party going forward".

In April this year, NPP delegates elected a new national leadership to run the party for the next four years. However, the party is yet to announce the date for its national congress to elect a Presidential nominee for the 2016 national elections.

Among those who have declared intent to contest the flagbearership of the Party are, Nana Akufo-Addo, Mr. Alan Kyeremanten, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku and Prof. Frimpong Boateng.

Some political pundits believe the list of contenders for NPP's top post will increase as the congress draws nigh, but maintains the competition will still be between Nana Akufo-Addo and Mr. Kyeremanten for the third time, having witnessed same in 2008 and 2012.