Hassan Ayariga

Ayariga spent his childhood in Accra and Bawku, moving to Nigeria with his parents after the overthrow of the Limann administration. He attended Ghana Secondary School in Tamale and then in Nigeria Barewa College in Zaria, but did not earn a degree at Barewa. He eventually studied accounting at the London School of Accountancy, yet likewise neither pursued or acquired any degree.

Ayariga later attended Atlantic International University, an unaccredited university often described as a degree mill.{{Cite web |last=Gumbs-Sandiford |first=Ani-ka |title=Commissioner into 1990 coup attempt accused of having Doctorate |url=http://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6.2.394176.ef1f6846f7 |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=Guardian |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2016-10-28 |title=Probe IGP's 'Fake' doctorate degree - Academics |url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Probe-IGP-s-Fake-doctorate-degree-Academics-481571 |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=GhanaWeb |language=en}} This is not Ayariga's only dubious American educational credential as he is also the recipient of an honorary degree from Reagan National University, an institution likewise widely reported as a fraud.{{Cite web |last=Conway |first=Marian |date=2020-02-18 |title=The Case of the Accreditation of the Nonexistent University |url=https://nonprofitquarterly.org/the-case-of-the-accreditation-of-the-nonexistent-university/ |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=Non Profit News {{!}} Nonprofit Quarterly |language=en-US}} In addition, the very accreditor of Reagan National University, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, itself became unrecognized in the United States because of its lax standards.{{Cite web |title=U.S. Department of Education Ends ACICS Recognition {{!}} Council for Higher Education Accreditation |url=https://www.chea.org/us-department-education-ends-acics-recognition |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Council for Higher Education Accreditation}}

Despite styling himself as 'Dr.', Ayariga has never actually earned any degree from an educational institution currently-accredited by recognized authorities within the country in which it is domiciled. The same cannot be stated with respect to either his spouse (Anitta) or brother (Mahama), who are graduates of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Harvard Law School respectively.{{Cite web |title=Mahama Ayariga |url=https://ar.ug.edu.gh/mahama-ayariga/ |website=University of Ghana}}

In the presidential primaries of the People's National Convention (PNC) for the 2016 general election, Ayariga lost to Edward Mahama, whom he had beaten to become presidential candidate in 2012. Alleging electoral misconduct, he left the party to form a new party, the All People’s Congress (APC), in 2016. The Electoral Commission of Ghana handed the party a provisional certificate after he met the requisite requirements, and it had since been granted a final certificate.{{Cite web |last=Boakye |first=Baffour Agyeman Prempeh |date=2023-01-24 |title=Ghana’s Nkrumahist parties keep splitting - a threat to their strength in the 2024 election |url=http://theconversation.com/ghanas-nkrumahist-parties-keep-splitting-a-threat-to-their-strength-in-the-2024-election-192520 |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}

Due to reported errors with paperwork, Ayariga was disqualified from appearing on the ballot in the 2016 Ghanaian general election.{{Cite web |date=2018-07-19 |title=Full list of disqualified presidential aspirants {{!}} General News 2016-10-10 |url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Full-list-of-disqualified-presidential-aspirants-476310 |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Ghana web |archive-date=2018-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719173406/https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Full-list-of-disqualified-presidential-aspirants-476310 |url-status=dead }} In response, Ayariga launched claims of electoral misconduct not unlike those he had earlier leveled at the People's National Convention.[https://web.archive.org/web/20161011171202/https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/EC-disqualification-bogus-we-ll-sue-them-Ayariga-476307 Ghana web: "EC disqualification bogus; we’ll sue them – Ayariga". Reported on October 10, 2016.]

His father, Frank Abdulai Ayariga, was a member of parliament for the Bawku Constituency during the third republic administration of Hilla Limann and his mother, Anatu Ayariga, a business woman.{{cite web |title=Hassan Ayariga's Bio |url=http://www.hassanayariga.com/hassan.main/about/bio.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421013507/http://www.hassanayariga.com/hassan.main/about/bio.html |archive-date=21 April 2012 |access-date=5 November 2012 |publisher=hassanayariga.}}

His younger brother Mahama Ayariga was Ghanaian Minister for Youth and Sports from 2013-2015, and he is the current Ghanaian Member of Parliament for the Bawku Central{{cite web|title=Ghanaians will continue to enjoy subsidies on utilities - Mahama Ayariga|url=http://www.citifmonline.com/index.php?id=1.1565324|access-date=12 October 2013|publisher=City fM Online}} Constituency.

Hassan Ayariga lived and worked in Germany for many years and has business interests in both Ghana and Germany. He is married and has 5 children.{{cite web |url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/people/person.php?ID=1192 |title=Hassan Ayariga (PNC Presidential Candidate ) |website=Ghana Web |access-date=25 May 2019 }}

{{Reflist|30em}}{{s-start}}

{{s-ppo}}

{{s-bef|before=Edward Mahama}}

{{s-ttl|title=People's National Convention presidential candidate|years=2012}}

{{s-aft|after=Edward Mahama}}

{{s-new}}

{{s-ttl|title=All People's Congress Presidential Candidate|years=2016, 2020}}

{{s-inc}}

{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayariga, Hassan}}

Category:1971 births

Category:Living people

Category:People's National Convention (Ghana) politicians

Category:People from Upper East Region

Category:Candidates for President of Ghana

Category:All People's Congress (Ghana) politicians

Category:Ghana Senior High School (Tamale) alumni