The Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) National Elections Committee, Fredrick Opare-Ansah, has confirmed that Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, is eligible to pick nomination forms for the party’s 2026 national elections despite being in custody.
However, he explained that picking up a nomination form does not mean an aspirant has automatically been cleared to contest.
According to Mr Opare-Ansah, the final decision on whether an aspirant qualifies to contest will be made by the party’s Vetting Committee.
He made the comments in an interview with Citi News on Friday, August 21, 2026, following reports that Chairman Wontumi’s campaign team had picked up nomination forms on his behalf.
Mr Opare-Ansah said the NPP Secretariat could not prevent any interested party member from obtaining a nomination form.
“Nothing stops anybody from buying a form,” he said.
He explained that any concerns about an aspirant’s eligibility would be addressed during the vetting process.
“It is only when you appear before the Vetting Committee that if there is any reason why you cannot be cleared to contest, then that will come up,” he stated.
He also noted that aspirants could access the nomination forms online, complete them and submit them through the required process.
Mr Opare-Ansah said he had received information on the number of people who had picked up forms but was still waiting for the Secretariat’s full report showing the names of the aspirants.
“I’ve gotten the statistics of how many people picked up forms today, and the breakdown: the Chairman category, the Vice-Chair category. I’m yet to receive the end-of-the-day report, which will tell me exactly which persons picked up forms,” he said.
Meanwhile, the NPP has extended the deadline for the submission of completed nomination forms by two days.
The deadline, which was originally Thursday, August 27, 2026, has been moved to Saturday, August 29.
The party said the extension would give aspirants more time to complete the nomination and filing process.
