President John Dramani Mahama has described as disrespectful, the decision by the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo to boycott the presidential debate organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in collaboration with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
The GBC/NCCE debate came off last Wednesday with President  Mahama, the Progressive People's Party's (PPP) Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, People's National Convention's (PNC) Dr Edward Mahama, Convention People's Party's (CPP) Ivor Greenstreet and independent candidate Jacob Osei Yeboah in participating.
Nana Addo who has come under a lot of criticism for not attending the debate has in his defence explained that the timing of the debate was wrong and conflicted with his already tight schedule.
"At the time the debate was going on, I was addressing a huge number of supporters in Nkawkaw which is also equally important to me", he explained in an interview on Joy FM on Friday.
He was also of the opinion that the GBC/NCCE had not been fair to him and his party in the past and thus did not trust them for fairness this time.
"The state agencies that conducted these debates are not agents that have been particularly fair to some of us in opposition. GBC acts like a propaganda wing of the ruling party, so much also the NCCE. I do not see why in those circumstances I will say I am being given the fair crack of the whip and therefore come before such an audience", he stated.
But according to President Mahama, Nana Addo’s claim was neither here nor there because his refusal to participate was just disrespectful to Ghanaians.
“…You can have your convictions, you can have your statistics but the opportunity to prove them is when you sit with your peers. There are seven of us who have registered with the Electoral Commission to stand for President. They say come and sit down and tell Ghanaians what you want to do for them. That one too you won’t come, it is an utmost disrespect to the Ghanaian electorate and then all you say is GBC is a propaganda whatever.â€
Addressing a night rally at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region on Friday, President Mahama questioned why Nana Addo failed to attend an earlier debate organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) if indeed his reason for not attending the GBC/NCCE was true.
"If GBC is a propaganda whatever , okay IEA too did a debate, why didn’t you go to the IEA one? If GBC is a propaganda at least you should have gone for the IEA one, that one too you run away.â€
“What is this?… NCCE is saying here is a platform, come and tell the people what to do too he won’t go and the next day you come and you are debating Kwame Sefa Kayi. Kwame Sefa Kayi is not standing for President. You go and sit down alone and speak slangs…Come and speak the slangs at the debate, that’s where Ghanaians are expecting it,†he added.