Pollster and Editor-In-Chief of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson has revealed that the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ekow Spio-Garbrah’s declaration of his support for President John Mahama is an indication that he has fallen for a scheme to get him to give up on his presidential aspiration.

According to Mr. Ephson, there was no way the Trade Minister could have come out to declare his intention to contest President Mahama knowing very well the dynamics of regionalism in the umbrella family.

He said because Mr. Spio-Garbrah had stepped on a lot of people’s toes in the NDC over his “Team A and Team B thing,” there surely would come a time that they would pay him back.

Such a time, he believes, is now looking at the circumstances under which the Trade Minister was provoked to come out and clear himself if he had any ambition to contest the party’s upcoming presidential primaries.

“Spio has been fixed. He has antagonized a lot of people with his Team A and Team B utterances. So, there are a lot of people who haven’t forgiven him over those statements,” he noted in an interview with Fiifi Banson on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.3 FM Wednesday.

He added, “because he called Mills’ people Team B, in effect then Vice-President Mahama was also Team B. So, Spio has downgraded himself from Team A to Team B because he is now part of the group that he criticized. In politics, you must watch your language. You must prevent having verbal diarrhea.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Spio-Garbrah announced that he will not contest President John Mahama in the party’s upcoming presidential primaries, stating among other things that NDC is well united under the former Vice-President and therefore, anything contrary will disintegrate their front.

“I do not have any interest in contesting the party’s presidential primaries in 2016 and I declare my unwavering support to His Excellency the President for 2016 and beyond,” he said in a statement.

His statement was in reaction to a splinter group, Friends of Spio-Garbrah, who were bidding for his candidacy in the party’s upcoming presidential primaries.

The group had earlier questioned the date for the party’s parliamentary and presidential primaries, arguing that the concurrent event was aimed at favouring a particular candidate much to the detriment of others who want to vie for that position.

But Mr. Ephson in his analysis over the situation told Banson that the whole thing was a scheme Mr. Spio-Garbrah has fallen for.