Greater Accra Regional Minister, Sheikh Ibrahim Codjoe Quaye, popularly called I.C. Quaye is fired up as he readies himself to become the next Vice President of Ghana. Daily Guide can report that a lobby group has intensified its campaign to secure the running mate slot of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the Ayawaso Central MP.

The lobby group, Progressive Youth Association (PYA) is asking Sheikh I.C. Quaye, 71, to go for the kill and partner the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate for the December 7, 2008 general elections.I.C. Quaye, who appeared to be ready for the job when Daily Guide met him skipping rope, confirmed that indeed the request from PYA had reached him, and he was in the process of meeting with the group to strategize and find the best way forward.

The Greater Accra Minister did not hide his interest in the group?s call and told Daily Guide: ?Well, if people think I?m the best person to partner Nana to retain victory for the NPP, why should I discourage them? It is victory we want and my focus now is to work together with the party to ensure we win the next election.Whether I become the vice president or not is not the issue but if that is what people want, and they believe it can bring us victory, I cannot stand against it and I would not stop them.?

Asked if he had what it takes to become the Vice President of Ghana, and if at the age of 71, he was not too old for the demanding position, he noted that ?Certainly, if I lack the requirements of a Vice President, no one would call on me to take up the challenge but the call keeps coming and even before our congress, many, many people called on me and these are very respected and influential people. Age and health are closely related but not the same?.

He added: ?I am a strong man and very healthy and Insha Allah, I would remain healthy. As a former boxer, I know how to remain healthy. I eat well, exercise well and take good care of myself. I do press-ups in the mornings; I lift heavy metals, I skip, I jog and I do what even much younger men cannot do. Politically, I entered Parliament as far back as 1969 together with President Kufuor and J. H. Mensah. I was born directly into politics and I have grown with it all my life. But as I said, I do not want this call on me to be Vice President to cloud the campaign of our presidential candidate.?Deep throat sources close to the Minister told Daily Guide that I. C. Quaye was delighted at the request and when people teasingly refer to him as ?Vice President I. C. Quaye?, his response was ?Kun fa ya kun?, a prayer in Arabic which means ?God let it be?. He was also reported to be building his campaign war chest and meeting with various opinion leaders for consultations on his quest to partner Nana Akufo-Addo.

His Ridge official residence is gradually becoming a Mecca of sorts, as Daily Guide met quite a sizable crowd, which comprised mostly Islamic and Ga traditional leaders. They had gone there to discuss his Vice Presidential ambition and apparently urge him on.Sheikh?s brother, Mohammed Quaye was a leading member of the Nana Akufo-Addo campaign team, galvanising support for the eventual winner of the NPP congress. A statement from the PYA said the call on I. C. Quaye to go for the Veep slot was in the right direction. ?Apart from being one of the most matured and influential politicians in the country, I. C. Quaye enjoys great popularity and public admiration even among his political opponents because of his excellent human relations.

?He is a Great Islamic leader and a member of the Constituent Council of Muslim World League which is made up of less than 50 Islamic leaders selected from the world over. Since his appointment as Regional Minister, he has solved the issue of religious conflicts between Christians and Traditionalists that occurred in the Greater Accra Region during the celebration of the Homowo festival of the Ga-Dangme people,? the group noted.

The MP for Ayawaso Central Constituency is a Moslem from La in the Greater Accra Region. His life has been dotted with spells of imprisonments and he has carved a reputation for himself as an astute politician whose trump card is firm support from people at the grass roots. He has also been a hilarious politician who attracts a lot of ?fans?. His numerous appellations include ?People People?, ?Muntums?, ?Mo ko bε?, and ?O baa ye o nyε.? Sheikh Quaye recently derided the National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Prof John Evans Atta Mills over his comments about the Kenyan polls.

Sheikh, who spoke in the Ga language, lapped around the word Kenya, used by the NDC presidential candidate during his recent press conference about the Kenyan election. ?Atta Mills kεε mini? Ni ? na boni ayaa; mini ? kεε? ? kεε mini a nya? Kenya? Bεε ? nya. Atta Mills ?nya. Kenya? Mini dji noε. Ga, wo nuo shishi a kε a nya. Atta Mills ?nya,? I C Quaye said in Ga. The comments, which drew loud and spontaneous laughter from the packed crowd at the NPP function means: ?What is Atta Mills saying? Kenya? Then he has defecated. Atta Mills has defecated. We Gas understand his Kenya to mean that he has defecated. Atta Mills has defecated. Atta Mills has defecated?.?

Sheikh Quaye said Prof. Mills should appreciate the fact that the 2008 election battle was over with the election of Nana Akufo-Addo as the NPP presidential candidate, adding that come December, the Greater Accra Region would vote massively for the NPP.