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A group calling itself the Concerned Traders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Kumasi has strongly objected to the potential candidacy of former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for the 2028 general elections.
According to the group, the party’s choice of Dr Bawumia as the NPP’s presidential candidate in the 2024 election was a “wrong decision,” noting that it was responsible for the party’s historic defeat.
Addressing a news conference at the Bantama Market in Kumasi on Tuesday, 4th February, the convener of the group, Benjamin Ofori, argued that Dr Bawumia failed to influence the party’s votes in the Northern Regions.
He stated:
The assumption that Dr Bawumia would secure the northern and Islamic votes did not materialise. Instead, the party suffered significant losses in these areas, eroding the gains the NPP had made since 1992.
He added:
If the party truly wants to return to power in 2028, it must choose a candidate who is a living testimony of good leadership and sound economic policies.
Meanwhile, a member of the New Patriotic Party, Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, has rejected the argument of the concerned group. In a Facebook post, he responded:
Some of us will not tolerate any agenda to push the blame for our 2024 defeat onto the candidature of Dr Bawumia. The election was a referendum on our eight years in power, and some of our people decided not to vote for various reasons.
So we won’t sit down for those who have an interest in leading the party to use Dr Bawumia as a scapegoat because of their ambition. We will resist any false narrative seeking to push the blame on Dr Bawumia. We should all respect ourselves and wait for the party to conduct full investigations into the cause of the defeat and not rush to blame one person.
The NDC’s John Dramani Mahama won the 2024 presidential election after receiving 6,328,397 votes (56.55%), while Dr Bawumia garnered 4,657,304 votes (41.61%), reflecting a significant margin of 1,671,093 votes.