Ahead of this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections, the editor-in-chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako, has said the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is his preferred candidate.

Nana Akufo-Addo will take a third shot at the presidency in the December elections, and will be looking to wrest power from President John Dramani Mahama, who is seeking reelection.

But Mr Baako, dispelling rumours that he had described the NPP flagbearer as ungrateful, on Multi TV’s news analysis programme Saturday July 30 said he could vouch for the integrity of the NPP leader who has been his friend for nearly 40 years.

He said: “There is a material circulating widely on social media, Facebook, Whatsapp and the rest that is being attributed to me to the effect that I have indicated that Nana Akufo-Addo is an ungrateful person, it is sourced to ghanapolitcsonline.com.

“I want to assure all people listening and watching us that I have not authored any such thing, any such article that is claimed to have emanated from my office. It is a complete fabrication and I am putting on record that I have known Nana Akufo Addo for almost 40 years and that I still will vouch for his integrity, which I think is impeccable.

“He is a trusted friend of mine and...he is my candidate for election 2016.

“So, let people put that mischief in the dustbin of history…the poverty of the story itself is so manifest that even though I am 'book-short', I can write better than that.”