Appiah Stadium, a staunch National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporter, has explained why he is unwilling to defend Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa amid the controversy surrounding his ministry.
According to Appiah Stadium, his decision not to publicly support the minister is rooted in what he described as a personal disappointment over an alleged failure by Ablakwa to assist him with his United States visa application ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
Appiah Stadium revealed that he had planned to travel to the US to watch the tournament but encountered difficulties securing a visa because of previous issues involving his name at the American Embassy.
He claimed that President Mahama intervened after learning about his situation and instructed Ablakwa to assist him in resolving the matter.
Appiah Stadium alleged that the President specifically directed Ablakwa to write a letter to the US Embassy explaining the circumstances surrounding his previous record to help facilitate his visa application.
Appiah Stadium, however, claimed that the Foreign Affairs Minister failed to provide the requested letter despite the President’s intervention.
He further alleged that repeated attempts to reach Ablakwa by telephone to seek assistance and guidance on the visa process proved unsuccessful.
According to him, the Minister’s failure to respond to his concerns had influenced his decision not to defend him against the criticisms surrounding the government’s handling of the Ghanaians repatriated from South Africa.
Speaking on Esra TV on November 10, 2026, Appiah Stadium stated, “If Okudzeto is being accused of something, why should I waste my petrol and come here to defend him? Am I mad to defend Okudzeto? Or do I not know what to do when I wake up in the morning? I applied for an American visa to go and watch the World Cup, but I was denied because of an old political issue”.
“The President asked Okudzeto to write a letter to help me get the visa, but he never did. To this day, he has never answered my calls to help me with the process,” Appiah Stadium added.
His comment follows Minority in Parliament who has raised concerns over an alleged passport-for-sale scheme involving officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Passport Office, claiming that about 300 Ghanaians have travelled to Europe and other destinations using Diplomatic and Service Passports obtained through the arrangement.
Meanwhile, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Communications Director, has accused Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa of having prior knowledge of alleged irregularities in the issuance of Ghanaian passports.
The NPP Communications Director questioned Ablakwa’s claim that he was unaware of the activities within the Ministry.
Miracles Aboagye quizzed how Ablakwa could establish that no Diplomatic Passports had been implicated in the alleged scheme while retaining that he had no prior knowledge of the activities.
Speaking at a press conference alongside members of the Minority Caucus in Parliament, Miracles Aboagye stated, “How did the Minister know that there were no diplomatic passports if he claims he has no knowledge of the scheme? A scheme that is being orchestrated under your blind side, as you claim, by people within your ministry, which you are only getting to know after we brought it to the fore”.
“Is it the case that those at the ministry who are raising issues and saying that the Minister knows about this scheme because he knew why he appointed this particular gentleman as Director of Passports even though he doesn’t qualify and kept him there all this while from last year till now? He knew about the scheme. Can he give us a response for that?” he asked.
Miracles Aboagye further revealed that the passport matter was not the only issue the NPP intend to raise about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He added, “There are a lot more issues at the Foreign Affairs Ministry that are going to be discussed in the next few days. We have them in hard copy evidence. We have them in hard copies, soft copies, saved in the cloud everywhere, and there is no absolute way that any of this evidence can go anywhere,” he said.
“We in the New Patriotic Party support the Minority Caucus in Parliament. We are fully behind the committee members, and we are calling on the Speaker to listen and hear the call of the Ranking Member and the Foreign Affairs Committee members for a full parliamentary inquiry,” he said.
“The Minister who is supervising this fraud cannot be the one showing us reports of a committee he has established,” he added.
Watch the video below:
“If Okudzeto is being accused of something, why should I waste my petrol and come here to defend him? I applied for an American visa to go and watch the World Cup, but I was denied because of an old political issue. Okudzeto was asked to write a letter to help me get the visa, but he never did.” — Staunch NDC supporter Appiah Stadium explains why he would not defend Foreign Affairs Minister Okudzeto Ablakwa amid the South Africa repatriation controversy, while recounting how Ablakwa failed to write a letter to support his American visa application.
— 𝐀𝐒𝐊 (@askghmedia) November 10, 2026
