Paa Kwesi Nduom, the 2008 presidential candidate of the Convention People's Party (CPP) says the EO Group is being victimized unduly by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

It was the EO Group, a Ghanaian consortium, whose tireless effort pushed Kosmos Energy to discover oil in commercial quantities in the country, but has since 2009 been under the scrutiny of the NDC government, with the intension to criminalise it for helping with Ghana's oil find.

At a news conference in Accra yesterday to make suggestions about what he wishes President John Evans Atta Mills will say to Parliament in his state-of-the-nation address on Thursday, Dr. Nduom said, "If we want to find fault in the whole deal then it should not be the Ghanaian group alone.

It should include the foreign group. It is not fair to strip the Ghanaian group off and let the foreigners go.

"I was the Minister of Energy when the deal was signed. I visited Equatorial Guinea three times to investigate the background of Kosmos and I can tell you that those who went around making sure things properly happened were the EO Group.

"If as a country we have to thank anybody, it should be the EO Group. What they have brought to Ghana recently nobody can".

Dr. Nduom said, "If former President Kufuor rose up a Ghanaian Group, let President Mills also raise up one so that another person could also raise up yet another group. If it happens this way we will soon have eminent Ghanaian groups dominating our oil industry".

He said President Mills came to power on the platform of change but so far there has been nothing new or different that can transform the fortunes of the people, adding, "So far it has been business as usual".

He also said that it would be prudent for the President and his team to concentrate on the 'Directive Principles of State Policy', which presents a collective broad national agenda to ensure a just and free society.

He urged the government to encourage consensus building towards national development, support small and medium enterprises with soft loans and promote agriculture.

Dr. Nduom also asked the government to come out with a timetable for the oil industry, to the benefit of all Ghanaians, particularly the local communities.

He as well called for a strengthening of public sector institutions to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the public sector and facilitate the implementation of the new Pension Law, which he said "is a huge opportunity to create wealth for future retirees".

By William Yaw Owusu, Denver -Colorado.