Suspended 2nd Vice Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Sammy Crabbe, has said the party’s Extraordinary Delegates’ Conference held over the weekend was an illegality.

Speaking to Naa Dedei Tettey on Class Midday News Monday, December 21, 2015, Mr Crabbe explained that his absence at the conference was because of the illegal nature of the event.

In his words, “there has been a coup within NPP, and I do not recognise any Acting Chairman position. Every National Delegates’ Conference is convened by the National Chairman of the NPP. The National Chairman of the NPP did not convene that conference, therefore, there was no way I would go to such a conference as it was an illegality.”

He insisted he is still the 2nd Vice Chairman of the party despite being suspended.

“First of all, I don’t see myself as suspended. You have bought into this whole coup mentality, and I don’t think so. I think you have a group of people sitting somewhere who think that they can undermine the very existence of our party. They think that they can usurp the powers of the National Delegates’ Conference because if we allow such a thing to stand it will mean that no vote cast in NPP will mean anything. Our democracy will be gone. It threatens the democracy in Ghana. Nobody can suspend me. There is a process for suspending people, the process has not been followed,” he said.

Mr Crabbe added that he does not recognise anything that went on at the NPP conference.

He said he was already challenging some illegalities in the party even before the “so-called suspension” and that he was only being consistent by not showing up at the Delegates’ Conference.

“I refused to go to Steering Committee meetings at a time they hadn’t even taken their illegal action against me. I refused to go to NEC meetings and National Council meetings, so, I am being very consistent.”

Asked if he would campaign for the flagbearer, Mr Crabbe said Nana Akufo-Addo was elected by the delegates, and, therefore, has the authority to put together a campaign team and “it is my duty and responsibility as a member and officer of the party to support him and I shall do that whenever the opportunity is provided so that is very different”.

He added: “If somebody does not have an authority and convenes something, I shall not go; if somebody has an authority and goes ahead and does anything with that authority, which was bestowed upon him by the delegate and not a bunch of people sitting somewhere I shall support that.”