The Vice President and the New Patriotic Party flagbearer hopeful, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has asked delegates to discard the notion that the New Patriotic Party is tribalistic and vote massively for him to ‘Break the 8’ in the 2024 general election.
Addressing a group of delegates in Tumu of Sissala East district in the Upper West Region, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said he was the only person the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) feared to see on the presidential ballot.
The Vice President therefore appealed to delegates to rally behind him and vote massively for him at the party’s National Delegates congress on November 4.
“I am the third person from the North to contest the presidential primary of the party and the support is across the sixteen regions with everyone supporting Dr Bawumia, because I have what it takes to win the 2024 elections. We in the NPP are trying to do something that has never happened. We are breaking the Eight. When the party opened the nomination, I picked the form so I could break the eight for the New Patriotic Party”.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia further indicated that having won all 16 regions in the Super Delegates Congress is enough evidence that he should be voted to lead the party in the 2024 general elections.
Dr. Bawumai also argued that he is confident that on November 4, 2023, the New Patriotic Party shall send a signal to show its opponent that it is not a tribalistic party but rather a national party
“If you look at our party and the antecedents and how we have been maligned, our opponents tell people that we vote on tribal lines. History tells us that the party doesn’t engage in tribal politics when we are electing leaders, as we are made up of different political groupings from different parts of the country.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
NPP History Justifies Its Nationalistic Nature
Moreover, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia noted that the National Liberation Movement from Ashanti, the Northern People’s Party from the North, the Anlo Youth Congress, the Ga People, and the Muslim Association Party came together to form the United Party, which is now the NPP and that’s the party’s antecedents.
He also stressed that in the 1954 elections, the Northern People’s Party won 12 seats with Busia’s party winning just one seat which made the Northern People’s Party the largest opposition party yet it ceded the leadership to Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia, making him the opposition leader.
According to the Vice President, this justifies that the Northern People’s Party was not choosing leadership on tribal lines.
The Vice President also noted that in recent history, the first Northern candidate who contested in NPP was Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu, who contested former President John A. Kufuor but the people of the North voted for J.A. Kufuor as the party wanted the one who could win elections.
“That showed that the North did not vote for Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu and that showed the North was not tribalistic. In the era of Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama of blessed memory, he stood against the current President Akufo-Addo, which also showed how the North voted for Nana Akufo-Addo, further proving why the party does not consistently vote on a tribal basis”
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
According to the Vice President the story of the Ashanti was the same as the North, as they do not vote on tribal lines, explaining further that when Adu Boahen contested, the Ashanti region voted for him from the Eastern region and not for Kufuor who hails from the Ashanti.
Vice President Bawumia thus argued that among those contesting now, he is the most experienced since he had gone for presidential elections four times and had been well-marketed.
“I know the crowd and the ground, the party has marketed me across the country, and I know how to beat my opponent,” he told the delegates”.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
