 After the party expelled its Chairman Paul Afoko, it appointed Blay as its acting Chairman.He stood for and was elected as substantive Chairman of the party at an NPP party national conference in Koforidua that took place from 7 to 8 July 2018.In the prelude to the Chairmanship race, a lot of controversy was generated when Blay promised to and eventually bought 275 buses for the 275 constituencies of the party for a purported cost of 11 million dollars.