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The Electoral Commission (EC) and the United Front Party (UFP) are locked up in a dispute over the flag-bearer position of Akwasi Addai, also known as Odike. While the EC has accepted the candidature of Mr Addai as the presidential candidate of the party, for complying with the nomination procedures, the UFP on the other hand says Odike is not its legitimate flag bearer. A statement issued by the UFP in Kumasi and signed by its Chairman and Founder, Nana Agyenim Boateng, said �the United Front Party wishes to inform the electorate that Akwasi Addai Odike is still not recognised by the party as the legitimate flag bearer despite the Electoral Commission illegally accepting him�. �To the party, Kwaku Owusu Antwi is still the flag bearer of the party,� the statement added. However, when contacted, the Director of Public Affairs of the EC, Mr Christian Owusu Parry, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the candidate (Addae) presented his nomination on October 18, 2012 within the appointed time for receipt of nomination. �The commission vetted the nomination form and accepted it, so officially he is the candidate for the United Front Party (UFP),� he said. He indicated further that if the chairman of the UFP said there was a case pending before court, the commission could not reject his (candidate�s) nomination. �If the court eventually rules that he does not qualify to be the candidate for the party then that would be the court�s decision and the commission would have to comply by that decision. For now we do not know that he is not qualified to stand as the party�s candidate for the presidential election,� Mr Owusu Pare said, explaining further that he did not know of any protest from the UFP chairman against Addae before the filing. �I don�t know of any such protest,� he emphasised. The UFP statement also accused the Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Operations, Mr Kwadwo Sarfo Kantanka, and Mr Kofi Assumaning, the Director of Elections, of corruption, for what it described as �illegally accepting the candidature of Addai�. It alleged that in spite of drawing the EC�s attention to the fact that the hierarchy of the UFP had disowned Odike and elected Mr Kwaku Owusu Antwi as the rightful flag bearer, Mr Sarfo Kantanka connived with other EC officials and accepted the forms of Odike. Mr Parry, however, said those allegations were unfounded, since no one person could influence the decision of the commission. �There are very very honest people here, people who have won their reputation the hard way,� he said. The UFP statement said there was no way Akwasi Addai would get total support from the hierarchy of the UFP, especially from the Regional Chairman and some national executive members of the party. The party threatened to institute legal action against the EC accusing the body of �shamefully accepting Odike as the party�s flag bearer�. The statement urged political parties contesting the 2012 general election �to be very vigilant in this year�s general election because there were some corrupt personalities within the EC who can alter the verdict of the electorate�. Urging members of the UFP to remain calm, the statement gave an assurance that in a few days� time � the party would endorse and support a presidential candidate and political party which the party believes can win this year�s general election and transform the economy of Ghana�. When contacted, Mr Abu Sadik, who also described himself as the National Organiser of the UFP, said Nana Boateng and Razak Kojo had been suspended from the party and could not, therefore, hold themselves as executive members of the party. He said the NEC of the UFP had also held a congress in December, last year, where they elected Odike as the flag bearer and, therefore, legitimately he was the flag bearer to lead the party to win the presidential election. �If anybody tells you that Odike is not our legitimate flag bearer, he is only throwing dust into the eye of the public and should not be taken serious,� he noted. He pleaded with the media to refrain from publishing issues from Nana Boateng that affected the UFP, saying that �such issues only distract us and affect our campaign to win the 2012 general election�.