The National Democratic Congress would have wished that former finance minister Kwabena Duffuor remained in the presidential primary in the interest of democracy, a former Information Minister Kofi Totobi Quakyi has said.

Dr Duffuor pulled out of the race on the eve of the Saturday, 13 May 2023 internal polls citing "blatant irregularities".

“At the meeting chaired by the former Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, all stakeholders at the meeting agreed that the Party Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, would immediately set up a technical team comprising the technical representatives from the 3 presidential aspirants and the party’s election committee to determine how soon the irregularities with the voters register could be resolved in readiness for the presidential primaries", Dr Duffuor said at a press conference.

He noted: "My concerns that the party is not ready to conduct a free and fair election is evident for all to see". 

"Taking part in such would be akin to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash", the former governorof the Bank of Ghana likened.

He then announced: "After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw from the presidential election, as I cannot contest in an election which is blatantly fraught with irregularities regardless of all my efforts to draw attention to same", he said.

Speaking to journalists at the Gyandu Park in Sekondi, Western Region, Mr Totobi Quakyi said: "We would have wished that the candidate who withdrew would have stayed on to fight in the interest of democracy, but it is his personal decision, but that personal decision should not be an affront to the collective or the masses of our supporters".

Dr Duffuor's withdrawal left two aspirants in the flag bearer race: former President John Mahama and former Kumasi mayor Kojo Bonsu.