as four CEOs head for the exit
By Prince Ahenkorah
The trickle of resignations from President John Dramani Mahama’s government is fast becoming a stream. Barely weeks after Nii Lantey Vanderpuye stepped down as DRIP National Coordinator to pursue the NDC’s national chairmanship, The New Republic has learnt that no fewer than four chief executive officers are preparing to hand in their letters with more likely to follow as the party’s December 19 national delegates congress draws nearer.
The exit queue is being driven by a firm directive from NDC General Secretary Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, who has ordered all full-time government appointees seeking national executive positions to resign by June 2026 six months before the party’s internal elections.
“The move was part of a broader effort to ensure a transparent, fair, and disciplined reorganisation process,” Kwetey said when he announced the directive earlier this year. He added that the rules “are firm, constitutional, and will be enforced without exception”.
For the four CEO-level appointees now preparing to step aside, the clock has all but run out.
Eric Adjei, the pugnacious Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), is being strongly tipped to contest for Deputy General Secretary.
A lawyer by training, Adjei has not been shy about his ambitions. In May, he publicly clashed with current Deputy General Secretary Mustapha Gbande, accusing him of “acting like a saint” and reminding him that “we are all appointees”. “He should stop pretending,” Adjei fired.
Abass Nurudeen, CEO of the Ghana Social Investment Fund (GSIF), is expected to make a run for National Communications Officer.
A lawyer who also serves as the NDC’s Ashanti Regional Communications Director, Nurudeen has been a visible defender of the government on media platforms, recently warning that the SIF risks collapse without sustainable funding and branding EC Chair Jean Mensa as incompetent after the Chief Justice dismissed petitions for her removal.
Osman Ayariga, the youthful CEO of the National Youth Authority (NYA), who also serves as the NDC’s Deputy National Youth Organiser, is reportedly positioning to contest for National Youth Organiser a promotion he has been quietly building towards for months.
Appointed to his NYA post in February 2026, Ayariga has been rallying youth across the country to “lead Ghana’s development through innovation”. His name has surfaced frequently in internal NDC horse-trading, with analysts noting that incumbent National Youth Organiser George Opare Addo appears to be backing Ayariga as his successor.
Kevor, the Director General of NIITA and current Eastern Regional Chairman of the NDC, is also about to hand over his resignation, according to party insiders. His plans remain closely guarded, but his dual role as a government appointee and a regional chairman puts him squarely within Kwetey’s directive.
The resignations follow the high-profile departure of Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, the former National Coordinator of the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), who stepped down on June 12.
Vanderpuye is widely expected to contest the position of National Chairman a move that would pit him against the incumbent, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, whose own future has become the subject of intense speculation.
With President Mahama barred by the Constitution from a third term, the NDC’s December 19 internal elections have taken on an outsized significance. They are the first real skirmish in the battle to succeed him and the jostling for position has already turned fractious.
Kwetey’s June deadline is intended to prevent conflicts of interest and ensure a level playing field. For the appointees now preparing to resign, the choice is stark: stay in government or run for party office. None of them has officially declared their candidacy, but party insiders insist that announcements are imminent.
As one senior NDC operative put it, speaking on condition of anonymity: “The gates are about to open. Everyone wants to ride on Mahama’s popularity into the next dispensation. But not everyone will survive the battle.”
The NDC’s National Delegates Congress is scheduled for December 19, 2026. The race to shape the party’s next generation of leadership has already begun.