President John Dramani Mahama and his brother, Ibrahim Mahama, have failed in an evil plot to bribe and use Daniel Bugri Naabu, Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, to smear Nana Akufo-Addo, the party’s flagbearer, by tagging him as “a hater of Northerners.”
The deal involved Mr Bugri Naabu quitting the NPP and spearheading ethnic-centered attacks on Nana Akufo-Addo to smear him “beyond electability,” in return for a juicy package from President Mahama.
The package included a brand new V8 Toyota Land Cruiser, a brand new V6 Mitsubishi Pajero, a brand new Nissan Pick-up, GH¢3.3 million, including a contract sum owed to him (minus a sum of GH¢500,000 that was givin to him at a meeting with the president), and a road contract worth GH¢190 million.
Mustapha Hamid, Spokesperson to Nana Akufo-Addo, who addressed a press conference yesterday, explained exactly what the NPP Regional Chairman was told to do when he finally succumbed to persistent pressure on him to meet with the president.
“They then told Bugri what the deal was. The President’s brother led that discussion. He said Bugri was supposed to resign and damage Akufo-Addo beyond electability. According to the President, Bugri should paint Akufo-Addo as a rabid anti-northern person, who could never be trusted to advance the cause of the people of the north. He was supposed to tell the world that it was Nana Akufo-Addo who got him to turn against Afoko and that he has gotten wiser. He was supposed to say that Nana Addo was knocking the head of one Northerner against another. That Bugri should say that Akufo-Addo was running a one man show; the NPP was led by a dictator; if he doesn’t like you, you are in trouble and that Bugri should say that it was even Nana who got him to suspend the Regional Women’s Organiser. Nana hates Northerners so our people should stop saying NPP is a better alternative when Nana is the one in charge,” Hamid disclosed.
According to him, Bugri Naabu met with President Mahama at Ibrahim Mahama’s residence after months of persistent pressure from the president and his brother. In the meeting was one Alhaji Mohammed Awal, a friend of Ibrahim Mahama.
“When, Bugri was leaving, Ibrahim asked him to give GH¢50,000 of the GH¢500,000 to Alhaji Awal, promising to reimburse him later.The very next day, Bugri managed to locate the one Prudential Bank that he knew would be open on a Saturday and put the money in. That is, the Abossey Okai Branch. He deposited it in his account number 0090985590013, which account holding branch is Ring Road Central. Bugri immediately reported the full details of the meeting to the Flag bearer, who was out of town campaigning, but through a trusted aide who is also a senior member of the NPP campaign,” he stated.
Hamid added: “A few days later, to show good faith, Ibrahim Mahama joined a high-powered NDC delegation, led by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Kenneth Wujangi, with Minister of State, Dr. Mustapha Ahmed and Ghana’s Ambassador to Angola Moses Bukari Mabengba, to the funeral of Bugri Naabu’s daughter. Ibrahim Mahama generously donated GH¢20,000 at the funeral, and the President GH¢10,000.”
He continued: “True to their word, the first of the three vehicles was ready and Bugri sent one of his boys to pick it up. According to the Customs Classification and Valuation Report, the vehicle was imported into Ghana by Malin Investment Ltd in August this year and the duty paid on it was GH¢40,274.70.”
Hamid gave a chronology of events that led to Bugri Naabu’s meeting with President Mahama and what happened when they finally met.
On Friday, the 28th of October 2016, our Northern Regional Chairman, Mr. Daniel Bugri Naabu, was invited to meet President John Dramani Mahama. The meeting was set up by his brother Ibrahim Mahama and a friend of his, Mohammed Awal. Ibrahim Mahama and Awal drove to the office of Bugri Naabu in Osu near the Osu Police Station, Accra shortly before 9pm. It was Alhaji Awal who walked to Bugri Naabu’s office. With Bugri Naabu were Majid Bawa and John Kwaku Alhassan (JK), who contested in the NPP parliamentary primaries in the Yunyoo constituency. Awal said that the President wanted to see Bugri Naabu and insisted it was important that Bugri meets with the President.
Bugri got into the front seat of Ibrahim’s car, a brown jeep, with a partition, so he could not even see who was in the car. He was told the President was in the back. He did not look. If the President was in the car, he did not say a word and Ibrahim drove from Bugri’s office in Osu to Airport Residential Area. Awal drove behind them in his saloon car.
When they got to Ibrahim’s house, they used a back door. Bugri walked with Ibrahim and Awal into an inner living room. According to Bugri Naabu, he was genuinely scared. Yes, big man Bugri was anxious. He was not so sure what was going to happen next. Less than five minutes later, the President entered the room, through the same route that they took.
At this time, Bugri was curious to find out what really they had in mind because Alhaji Awal had been trying for over six months to get him to meet the President. Around the same time, Ibrahim Mahama had tried to convince Bugri with money to leave the NPP to become a chief after the death of Bugri’s uncle, which Bugri refused.
Nearly three months ago, Bugri was in his office when Ibrahim Mahama came with Alhaji Awal, where he was asked to sit in Ibrahim’s car. The President’s brother’s first statement to Bugri was this: “Why are you with these Ashanti people. You know they don’t respect us.” He said he and his brother were prepared to give Bugri a very good “pension package” if he would quit the NPP and destroy any chances that Akufo-Addo may have at winning the presidency. Ibrahim gave Bugri GH¢10,000 for his “transport” back to Tamale through Alhaji Awal. But, Bugri told Alhaji Awal straight that it was impossible for him to leave the NPP or to destroy a good man like Akufo-Addo. But, they would not listen. They were determined to catch this big elephant. They kept putting pressure on Awal to put pressure on Bugri. Eventually, Bugri accepted their invitation to meet the President out of curiosity.
The meeting took place in the house of Ibrahim Mahama, close to Gold House, at Airport Residential Area, after 9pm that Friday, October 28. In the meeting was Bugri Naabu, the President, who sat in a chair to Bugri’s left, his brother, Ibrahim, who sat in another chair on Bugri’s right side, and Awal, who sat further away from the President, in another chair. They met for over an hour until 11pm.
Ibrahim started the meeting by saying he had been talking to Bugri for some time now and Bugri was playing hard but now has agreed to meet and he was sure that Bugri was ready to strike a deal with them. His words were that: “I have been talking to him for long time but he did not agree but now he is ready to support you for your second term.”
The President responded, first by thanking Bugri. He went on to say that he is a Northerner like Bugri and has not been happy with the things that Bugri had been saying about him. He also mentioned Dr Bawumia as another Northerner who has been very harsh on him, the only Northern President we have and that it was through them that Bawumia got to work at the Central Bank. The President said nothing pains him more than Hajia Samira, the wife of Bawumia, who has been very harsh on him.
The President then went on to say that Nana Akufo-Addo does not like Northerners. Bugri told him that it cannot be true. The President said, that was why Afoko was suspended. Bugri told him that was not true but Afoko brought it upon himself and it was his behavior that got the party to suspend him and not Akufo-Addo.
Bugri asked them how they expected him to survive after spewing these lies against an innocent man. They told him they were prepared to fly him abroad, put him up in a hotel and fly Ghanaian journalists there to interview him and that Bugri should even say he was afraid for his life that is why he had to flee Ghana.
Now, I am sure you want to know what they offered Bugri. As the President was talking, Ibrahim got up to signal and a man walked into the room with a bag behind his back. He dropped it in front of Bugri and left. Ibrahim opened it and it was full of Fifty Ghana Cedis notes. Bugri asked what that was about. Ibrahim said there was GH¢500,000 in it. The deal was that they were prepared to give him more.