Acting Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, has strongly refuted claims that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is behind a coordinated attempt to remove Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo from office.

Addressing the growing public speculation surrounding the Chief Justice's suspension on Channel One TV's Face to Face on Tuesday May 13, Tamakloe described the accusations as baseless and contrary to the NDC's consistent record of upholding judicial independence. "We have always done everything to ensure judicial independence… Her ladyship now suspended CJ Gertrude Torkornoo received bipartisan support when President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo nominated her for the CJ position.

If the NDC was minded we would have opposed her nomination even to the Supreme Court," Tamakloe said.

He dismissed any suggestion of political orchestration by the NDC, questioning how the party could have predicted or influenced the circumstances that led to the petition against Justice Torkornoo. "The issues that have grounded this petition-unless by clairvoyance-how was anybody going to determine that her ladyship the CJ was going to conduct herself one way or the other?