Former President Jerry Rawlings has warned the National Democratic Congress(NDC) that it risks being in opposition "for a very long time" if the quest for political power is to release wrongdoers from prison.

The former president’s comment follows assertion by MP for Odododiodio, Nii Lante Vanderpuije that NDC will release Abuga Pele if it wins the 2020 election.

An Accra High Court on Friday, February sentenced former National Coordinator of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency [GYEEDA], Abuga Pele to six years imprisonment for willfully causing financial loss to the state.

The Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill International Group, Philip Assibit, was also a jailed 12 years for various offences .

However, speaking to the media on Saturday on the sidelines of the NDC’s Unity walk in Somanya last Saturday, Nii Lante Vanderpuije said, “It is unfortunate but I can only say that this will not dampen the spirit of the NDC. Between 2001 and 2004, they sentenced Tsatsu Tsikata, Dan Abodakpi, Ibrahim Adam and Kwame Peprah. It did not stop us from winning elections in 2008. We are going to win the elections and bring Abuga Pele out,”

The comments has attracted widespread condemnation with some Ghanaians calling on the MP to apologise.

President Rawlings took to his Twitter handle to condemn the remarks, saying stealing and corruption put no one above the law. Those who have committed crimes deserve to be punished

Below is the full statement:

POLITICAL POWER NOT FOR FREEING THE GUILTY

Stealing and corruption puts no one above the law. Those who have committed crimes deserve to be punished. If the quest for political power is to release wrongdoers from prison, then the NDC is laying its own foundation to remain in opposition for a long long time. Fortunately, this kind of talk belongs to a handful of people in the NDC leadership who have gained power and influence they do not deserve and the sooner they are packed off, the better for the NDC and this country.

Obviously, the corruption by some of those who were in office, resulting in a humiliating defeat in the last election does not appear to have affected their conscience and reasoning in any way.

The NDC needs to regain its moral compass. A party born out of the explosive circumstances of our past should not find herself so HIGH on the scale of corruption. Just as the negative elements in various parties are networking to protect their misdeeds, so also must the positive minded personalities and supporters in the various parties also network to contain and keep such elements from political power.

While the current circumstances favour patriotic forces the most, the unpatriotic elements are more bent on collaborating and exploiting the constitutional climate. Let’s make changes for the better. Clear the bad and retain the good. Bring on board other patriots.