Barely one week after the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) opened nomination for its presidential aspirants ahead of the December 22 delegates’ congress, the party’s kitty has swollen by close to ¢600 million. Even though only two of the 18 aspirants who picked the nomination forms in the week have so far returned them, the national treasurer, Ms. Gifty Asantewaa Aryeh, popularly called Daavi Ama can boast of a cool ¢590 million.

The party is charging ¢250 million per aspirant, which is collected upon completion and submission of the nomination forms, in addition to a mandatory ¢5 million for each form collected.

Nominations opened last Saturday at the Asylum Down headquarters of the party, and within four days, all 18 members rushed in to collect forms, making the party ¢90 million richer. The 18 aspirants are Prof Mike Oquaye, Kwabena Agyapong, Capt. Nkrabeah Effah Dartey (rtd), Boakye Kyeremanteng Agyarko, Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, Dr. Kwame Addo- Kufuor, Daniel Kwaku Botwe, and Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku.

The rest are Yaw Osafo Maafo, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy, Vice President Aliu Mahama, Felix Owusu-Adjapong, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman and John Kwame Kodua.

If all the aspirants return their forms and pay the mandatory ¢250 million filing fee, the party would rake a total of ¢4.59 billion. So far, only Alan Kyerematen and Dr. Apraku have completed and returned their forms, but the remaining 16 are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks.

Hackman is expected to file his papers on Tuesday. Kyerematen, who was the first to submit his forms less than 48 hours after picking them, has sent ripples all over the place with what his opponents describe as an over-elaborate campaign launch.

Between the two days that he picked and submitted his forms, the former Minister for Trade, Industry, PSD and PSI has glaringly metamorphosed into not only a potential threat, but also a thorn in the flesh of other aspirants in the flagbearership race.

His campaign launch, following the jet speed with which he had been able to get 100 active members to endorse his presidential bid, did not only attract a few tongue-lashing, but also some suspicions from within the party. Others also took note of the splendor and grandeur that characterised the launch, which included two large floats and several busloads of fans, and concluded it was not important.

Interestingly, a text message churned out from anonymous sources, has penciled Kyerematen as the target of a number of his competitors. The text message said a number of aspirants, having realized they have no chance in the race, have colluded, after a secret meeting last Sunday, to embark on a smear campaign and possibly derail the December congress.

The message said: “With the reality of a failed presidential bid staring them in the face due to their inability to present a credible message and map out a winning strategy, Osafo Maafo, Dan Botwe, Akufo-Addo, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Mike Oquaye and other NPP presidential aspirants met on Sunday evening to prevent the congress from coming on in December.

“The devil plan is to peddle lies about the known winner, Alan Kyerematen, and President Kufuor to create confusion and division in the party. They plan instituting a court case to create a delay in the congress and make it late for the leading aspirant and obvious party choice, Alan Kyerematen to campaign to win the 2008 elections.”

Even though the authenticity of the allegations made in the text message cannot be proven, the message foretells the kind of attrition that will characterize the run-up to the primaries.

In a brisk reaction to the claims, one of the aspirants named in the allegation, Prof. Mike Oquaye, has denied ever holding any meeting with his competitors, let alone plotting to damage others. The former Minister for Communications said the text message experts should be cautioned as they pose a threat to the party.

In an interview on an Accra radio station, Prof Oquaye said he would be the last person to plot against other aspirants, stressing that those behind the smear campaign and vilifications must put an end to it.