NDC race: Ex-convict tag not a hurdle - Abodakpi

A national chairman aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dan Abodakpi, has said being an ex-convict will not inhibit his chances of becoming the leader of the ruling party.

He argued that his past cannot be used against him in his bid to unseat incumbent Dr Kwabena Agyei.

“As far as I am concerned and as far as the legal advice my lawyers give to me, there are no legal or any other impediments to me wanting to become a national chairman,” the former legislator stated.

He was thrown into jail for willfully causing financial loss to the State as a trades minister during the John Kufuor administration, but his 10-year imprisonment was cut short after a presidential pardon in 2008.

Abodakpi stressed that he suffered “persecution for the sake of the party” therefore it will be erroneous for his contenders – Agyei and the national coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Kofi Portuphy – to use his past against him.

“I was a martyr; I was a martyr who suffered prosecution for the sake of my party,” Abodakpi, who served as a former High Commissioner to Malaysia told Accra-based Citi FM.

The politician who also served as an Ambassador Plenipotentiary to 10 other countries in South East Asia noted that he has a clean bill of health to contest any public position hence his dream to become the chairman of the ruling party.

“So I am advised and I still believe that I did not have any legal impediments to me wanting to lead this party after the unfortunate incident of my conviction,” he said.