Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. John Boadu has made known in a statement that the ruling party has not been notified of any presidential debates this year and will disassociate itself from it if they receive any late invite to participate.

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) last month made known that it would organize three debates for presidential candidates in three zones ahead of the 2020 general election.

The debates, which it said would be organized in collaboration with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), will be held in the Northern, Middle and Southern zones in September, October and November this year.

He spoke that it is surprising that the NCCE would go ahead and announce to the world on their presidential debate schedules without meeting the party on the matter.

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“The NCCE has, at no point, engaged the NPP and its leadership in any conversation regarding the commission’s intention to organize any debates involving the party’s presidential candidate in the build-up to Election 2020.

"The NPP has also not made any solicitation to the NCCE to this effect,” it stated in a statement signed by the party’s General Secretary, Mr John Boadu.

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Ghana’s first policy think tank, organized Ghana’s first-ever presidential debate in 2000 and was attended by all presidential aspirants except the candidate of the then ruling party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor J. E. A. Mills.

The second presidential debate took place in 2004 but the sitting President, Mr J.A. Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), declined to participate at the last minute.