“A close confidant of Hassan Ayariga has come out to openly confess this to me that Hassan Ayariga was paid huge sums of money to do that…to cough just to distract Nana Akufo-Addo.â€
The above statement is an explosive claim made by Hon. Ken Agyapong, implying the then People’s National Congress (PNC) presidential candidate for the 2012 elections was in the pay of his masters, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to frustrate the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) candidate.
The Assin Central Member of Parliament (MP), held that the incessant coughing of Mr. Ayariga at the 2012 Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) presidential debate leading to the nickname ‘Ayaricof’ was no act of nature but an orchestrated ploy to disrupt the flow of the NPP man.
Mr. Ayariga’s coughs bemused many at the time but it now appears, Hon. Agyapong has offered a piece of a puzzle that confounded many.
Ayariga lost out in his quest to lead the PNC into the 2016 election to veteran, Edward Mahama compelling him to leave the PNC and form his own APC party in 2016.