The acting General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, has downplayed the bribery allegations against the Northern Regional Chairman of the party, Daniel Bugri Naabu.

“When I was Youth Organiser, when you go round, by the time you return the goats and guinea fowls would have filled your pick-up. How can you say you will not accept a gift?” he said.

He was speaking in connection with a feud between Mr Naabu and Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ms Otiko Afisa Djaba.

Ms Djaba described Mr Naabu as a bribe-taking politician who goes around extorting money, cows, and goats from people with the promise to secure them appointments in the Akufo-Addo government.

Ms Djaba, whose meeting with some women in the Northern Region on Friday was scuttled by the governing New Patriotic Party’s regional chairman and some agitated women, told a local radio station in an interview that if Mr Naabu wanted trouble, she would gladly oblige.

Apart from accusing Ms Djaba of failing to inform him of the meeting since she was in his territory, Mr Naabu also claimed Ms Djaba was plotting to scuttle the President’s appointment of the regional head of the School Feeding Programme.

He described the meeting as “illegal” and “unconstitutional”, saying even President Nana Akufo-Addo would not venture into the region to hold such a meeting without informing the regional executives.

In her reaction, Ms Djaba said Mr Naabu “came there to throw his weight about”, adding: “…As we speak nobody has appointed anybody for School Feeding. … I understand that Chairman Bugri wants to give this position to a woman, Dakora Bama or something, and then he also tried to cover up about issues concerning the DCE. I have nothing to do with the DCE. … I don’t know why Chairman Bugri wants to lie and use me as a cover-up for his problems.

“I want Chairman Bugri to understand that whatever is making him do the things that he is doing, he should be very careful. I’m the last person he would want to have trouble with because me, I respect myself, he should respect himself and stop lying about me.

“He cannot appoint School Feeding people, he’s not the only one in the region, he wants to be the one to appoint DCEs, Council of State elders, who and who, …all the things he collects from the people before assuring them [of posts], he should go and give the things back to them. … I want to use your platform to tell him to stop telling lies about me and to stop collecting people’s things and promising them jobs that he cannot give and when he goes and does that – after he has collected their money and their cows and goats – then he will come and put the trouble on Otiko. Otiko will not accept it. If Bugri wants trouble from me, then the trouble will come,” Otiko said.

But Mr Boadu is wondering how any individual can go and gift goats and sheep to gain favour from a party official to be appointed as an MCE.

He said party officials “have no authority” to appoint people for such positions because “the decision maker is the president and all the people [involved] are just consultation”.

He told Kwadwo Asare-Baffour Acheampong on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen on Monday, May 8: “It can never happen that a gift of goats will determine the appointment of any position as MMDCE.”

He called for ceasefire, indicating that the verbal exchanges between the two leaders were “unfortunate” and will be dealt with by the party.