No plans to remove Afenyo-Markin as Minority Leader – NPP’s Freddie Blay
Former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, has dismissed claims that the party may be planning to remove Alexander Afenyo-Markin as Minority Leader, assuring that his position is safe “for now.”
His statement follows wave of speculation within the NPP since the party’s January 31 presidential primary which saw former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia securing the bid as flagbearer for the 2028 general elections.
Reports had indicated that loyalists within the Bawumia camp were calling for “consequences against Afenyo-Markin” for failing to actively campaign for Dr. Bawumia during the primaries, choosing instead to campaign for Kennedy Agyapong who dominated in the Minority Leader’s constituency.
In a recent interview on Joy News, the former NPP National Chairman dismissed the existence of any plan to strip Afenyo-Markin of his position, emphasizing that such claims are just individual speculations.
“Where does a plan that has not come to my notice come from? It’s not even the Caucus that decides that; it is the party. The party makes a decision. The party’s prerogative, as it were, is to front the leadership of the party,” he emphasized.
When pressed on whether any such plan existed, Freddie Blay firmly stated: “Is there a plan like that? At the moment, I said I haven’t come across a plan like that. Nobody has even talked to me about it.”
The former Chairman asserted that Afenyo-Markin has lived up to expectations as Minority Leader, arguing that he had consistently carried and pushed the party’s philosophy “so well” over the years.
“Why should I say so? We put him up and, you know, quite well…absolutely trumpeting the party’s philosophy and expressing very vigorously the sentiments of the party in Parliament and even to the public.” He said. “He’s doing well. At the moment? Yes, he’s doing well.”
Freddie Blay further emphasized that if there ever comes a time when a change of leadership is needed in Parliament, it is the party that will decide, but not individual members.
“I am saying it is the party that decides as to who leads. But I thought he shouldn’t be removed for now
“For now? Yes. Because he’s doing well. So far, so good. Let it remain that the leadership will do well. Leave it there for a moment until the party decides to make some such changes based on various factors that they find,” he added.
He clarified that although individuals within the party’s leadership may have heard some of these claims, those calls remain unofficial.
“I don’t even want to go into that with you. But as I said, the leadership of the party, the national council, recommended by the National Executive Committee, the consultation of course with Parliament, a lot of things, thinking, and calculations go into that
“So, at the moment the party has not expressed its desire to make any change in the leadership,” he elaborated.
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