Nii Lante Vanderpuye is devil incarnate - Bannerman

Odododiodio MP Nii Lantey Vanderpuye is a devil incarnate who is bent on destabilising the peace in the constituency in order to retain his seat, aspiring Member of Parliament Nii Lantey Bannerman has stated.

The NPP parliamentary candidate for the Odododiodio constituency is accusing the incumbent Vanderpuye of fuelling the chaos in the constituency to score political points.

Nii Lantey Vanderpuye and Nii Lantey Bannerman are the two leading candidates in the parliamentary contest for the Odododiodio constituency in the Greater Accra Region.

The two have had a series of exchanges with the latest ending up in a brawl.

Sports minister and incumbent MP Nii Lantey Vanderpuye is alleged to have punched Bannerman a number of times in the process. This was after supporters of the two candidates clashed in a bloody encounter that left three persons hospitalised last Tuesday.

The incumbent Member of Parliament, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, alleged that the NPP’s Nii Lante Bannerman masterminded the attacks on his supporters on Tuesday [November 8] night when his team had ended a rally at Jamestown in the constituency. According to him, Mr Bannerman had organized some young men to attack his team members with guns, machetes and other weapons.

But Nii Lantey Bannerman refutes the claim but rather accuses the incumbent MP of being behind the attacks. Subsequently, he alleges the sitting MP made a personal attack on him – an incident he has since reported to the police.

Reacting to the accusations and counter accusations, Nii Lantey Bannerman said there was no way he was going to associate himself with Nii Lantey Vanderpuye even if it would cost the constituency the peace and calm it has enjoyed in the recent past.

“There’s no way I will associate myself with an evil man… I know what Nii Lante Vanderpuye is up to, I know what he is up to… This is somebody who out of no provocation came out of his car and started throwing punches. He comes to the public to portray himself as somebody who is peaceful…”

He continued, “…it is never his nature to even preach peace. He goes around telling people he’s going to be a pastor after politics but let’s not be deceived by the devil himself. I’m saying on authority Nii Lante Vanderpuye is the devil incarnate.” Nii Lantey Vanderpuye is meanwhile urging the police to act swiftly and bring closure to the impasse in the constituency or risk having constituents ‘defend themselves’.

“For months now I have been preaching peace. I don’t care how you define it. We have reached our limits. We can’t sit down and these people will shoot our people just for nothing. If the Police will not defend us, we will defend ourselves.“ he told Citi Fm’s Bernard Avle

The governing NDC has had the lion’s share of votes in both presidential and parliamentary elections in the Odododiodio constituency since 1992 with the NPP only managing to win the parliamentary seat in 2000.