Aside from BJ da Rocha, the first chairman of the NPP, Haruna Esseku, Paul Afoko, and very lately, Freddy Blay, the rest of the other periods, the NPP’s top position had been occupied by a Ga Man. They included Lawyers—Peter Ala Adjetey and Odoi Sykes.
The other Ga chairman was Jake Obetsebi Lamptey. Before Ayikoi Otoo announced his bid, another top Ga NPP individual tipped for the position was Prof. Mike Oquaye, the immediate past Speaker of the Ghanaian Parliament.
Sources have however hinted to this author that the former Political Science lecturer’s chances would have been hampered by his frail health conditions. Lawyer Ayikoi Otoo joins the chairmanship race with solid NPP credentials. He was once the Member of Parliament for the Krowor constituency in the Greater Accra Region.
Before his appointment as Ghana’s High Commissioner to Canada, he was the chairman of NPP’s constitutional and legal committee. That position is being occupied by another veteran lawyer, Frank Davies, who is also a football enthusiast. Frank had been at the forefront of the Accra Great Olympics sporting club in the past.
It’s however not too clear whether Frank’s interest in football has waned or he is now a full-time legal practitioner cum politician. Davies has been the one prosecuting many high-profile cases of the ruling NPP and was the spokesperson of the NPP in the 2020 election petition brought against the NPP by John Mahama and the NDC.
Ayikoi Otoo was very instrumental in the 2013 election petition case filed by Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP against the national Electoral Commission (EC) and the NDC and its candidate, John Dramani Mahama.
The petition challenged the outcome of the 2012 elections on the basis that it was over-flawed with electoral irregularities.
He showed his ingenuity in law when he defended former NPP General Secretary, Kwadwo Afriyie in one of the instances that the Supreme Court adjudged that Sir John had maligned judges who sat on the 2012 election petition case. It was at the said forum that the chairman of the seven-member panel, Justice Atuguba suggested to Ayikoi Otoo that he was the best fit, for the Supreme Court or the Bench.
Mr. Ayikoi Otoo was also the star in the landmark case involving the Electoral Commission of Ghana and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) prior to the 2016 elections. Under some bizarre circumstances, the Charlotte Osei-led commission disqualified the PPP’s presidential candidate, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom from contesting that year’s presidential election.
However, the PPP and Ayikoi Otoo had other ideas and thought the decision by the Electoral Commission was tantamount to the suppression of the fundamental human rights of the presidential candidate, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom.
The High Court presided over by Justice Kyei Baffour saw the wisdom in the defense counsel—Ayikoi Armah’s defense and therefore moved to quash the decision of the Electoral Commission.
The decision ensured that all other presidential candidates who the Electoral Commission had dealt similar harsh verdicts on them were allowed to contest the 2016 elections.
