Is Nii Lantey a Wizard?

By A A Yayra
The Member of Parliament for Odododiodioo constituency, Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye may now have the opportunity to redeem his ‘sunken’ prophetic image, as he was never taken serious when and some even took him to the cleaners when he started making various prophetic electoral predictions in 2011.
What majority of Ghanaians seems to forget is that, Hon Nii Lantey Vanderpuye have made predictions on almost all elections that the National Democratic Congress have engaged since the late President John Evans Atta Mills won political power in 2008.
The prophetic ‘wizard’ as many may want to call him made his first prophecy when he revealed that Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, the wife of NDC founder and former President, Jerry Rawlings, will never poll beyond three percent of votes in the NDC’s primary which was held in Sunyani, the Brong Ahafo regional capital, from July 8 to 10, 2011.
Speaking in an interview with Angel Fm, a Kumasi-based radio station in May 2011, the former sports commentator called the bluff of ex-President Jerry John Rawlings, founder of the NDC, stressing that the ruling party was capable of winning the 2012 polls without him.
He noted that the former President Rawlings had the right to decide not to campaign for the party but that would not prevent the NDC from winning the 2012 elections, a prediction which actually came to pass.
The ex-President in the run-up to the 2012 election said at the formal launch of his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings’s campaign bid for the NDC presidential slot that he could not campaign for the party in 2012, should President Mills be retained as the party’s standard bearer.
It is common knowledge that the founder of the NDC never took part in the party’s campaign ahead of the just ended 2012 election, yet the umbrella party managed to win the election without him at the first round.
True to his divination, late President Mills won the Sunyani Congress by sweeping 2771 votes representing 96.90% whereas Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings managed a paltry 90 votes (3.10%).
Again, the Chairman for the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan on December 9, 2012, declared President Mahama winner in the Presidential contest. The president obtained 50.70% of the votes whilst his closest challenger Nana Akufo-Addo of the NPP, polled 47.74% of total votes cast.
What seems to have shocked many Ghanaians to the marrow was when “Prophet” Nii Lantey made a daring declaring on November 13, 2012 that he will readily relinquish the Odododiodio seat if his closest contender Victor Okaikoi of the New Patriotic Party gets more than 35 per cent of the total votes cast.
He made this pronouncement at a forum that was jointly organized by Centre for Democratic Development and the Coalition of Domestic Observers to promote peaceful co-existence among supporters of the various candidates in the constituency ahead of the 2012 elections.
Nii Lantey Vanderpuye also prophesied before a teaming crowd that there will be no violence at all at Odododiodio during the 2012 election because he will win by a landslide, adding “I have already told Capt Okaikoi that if he gets anything above 35 per cent of the votes, I will give the seat to him. So there won’t be the need for any violence. I am positive I will get more than 65 per cent of the votes.”
As if he saw his victory even before the election the political Prophet, Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye polled 45,957 of the total valid vote cast representing 62.98% to beat his rival, Victor Nii Okaikoi of the NPP, who polled 26,269 votes representing 36 percent.
In the wake of this victory, some Ghanaians have begun calling the Odododiodio MP to abdicate his current role as a legislature and, rather turn to the work of God since he has the penchant of making predictions that come to pass.
True to Nii Lantey’s predictions, Nana Konadu performed abysmally at the NDC’s congress in Sunyani and the party also won the 2012 election without Konadu’s hubby and NDC founder, Jerry John Rawlings.
Again, for the first time in the political history of Odododiodio, the 2012 elections in the constituency was largely free, fair and without any reported case of violence and also, the NPP’s parliamentary candidate, Cpt. Victor Okaikoi managed only 36% of the total votes cast.