Former Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has declared that all political indicators and the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) electoral history position former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the party’s most viable candidate ahead of the upcoming January 31, 2026, primary.
According to Dr. Amin Adam, the internal contest is not merely about a choice of leadership, but a strategic decision based on established electoral patterns that have defined the party since the fourth republic began. He emphasized that the former Vice President currently holds a significant advantage in public perception across various demographics.
“I believe that if the NPP wants to win the 2028 election, history favours Bawumia, competency favours Bawumia, and experience favours Bawumia. So the dynamics favour Bawumia”
Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Former Finance Minister
Dr. Amin Adam noted that empirical data suggests a broad appeal that extends beyond the traditional party base, reaching into the opposition and floating voter blocks. However, he addressed claims that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) might prefer a Bawumia candidacy, questioning the logic behind the opposition genuinely wishing the NPP success.
“They want somebody they can easily beat,” he stated, suggesting that narratives claiming the NDC finds other NPP aspirants more formidable are likely a tactical distraction. Dr. Adam urged delegates to look past the rhetoric and identify which candidate the ruling party actually views as a threat.
According to him, the NDC’s interest lies in facing a candidate they can easily dismantle in a general election. He cautioned the NPP faithful to be strategic, adding that the candidate the opposition fears most is the one the NPP should ultimately elect to lead them into the 2028 contest.
Historical Patterns and Candidate Repetition
A central point of Dr. Amin Adam’s argument was the historical tendency of the NPP to lose with first-time candidates only to win upon their repetition. He provided a detailed post-mortem of the party’s electoral history to support his claim that a loss for Dr. Bawumia in 2024 was consistent with the trajectories of past NPP leaders.
“Any time we have put up a candidate for the first time, that candidate lost. We put up Adu Boahen in 1992; he lost. We put up Kufuor for the first time in 1996, and he lost. We put up Nana Akufo-Addo for the first time in 2008, and he lost. We put up Bawumia for the first time in 2024, and he lost”
Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Former Finance Minister
He argued that the crucial factor is the outcome when a candidate is presented to the electorate for a second or third time, pointing to the eventual victories of Presidents Kufuor and Akufo-Addo as proof that persistence is the NPP’s primary engine for returning to power.
The former finance minister, maintained that repeating a candidate allows for a more established brand and a corrected campaign strategy.
The Incumbent Risk
With the NDC currently in government under President John Dramani Mahama, Dr. Amin Adam warned that the party cannot afford a period of experimentation.
He noted that the sitting government holds the advantages of incumbency and state resources, making the 2028 election a high-stakes battle for the NPP’s future survival – while highlighting the extensive resources the NPP has already invested in marketing Dr. Bawumia over the last decade.
“If we experiment and lose, we could be in opposition for 12 years. By the end of those 12 years, we may not even have a party” Dr. Amin Adam noted.
For him, the former Vice President has appeared on the NPP presidential ticket five times – four times as a running mate and once as a flagbearer – making him a well-known entity to the Ghanaian public.
Beyond this, he drew a parallel to President Mahama’s own political journey, noting that consistency and time were the factors that allowed the current President to close previous gaps between himself and President Akufo-Addo.
“Why don’t we give Bawumia another chance? He won’t even need four years to wipe out the deficit,” he concluded.
As the NPP primary approaches, Dr. Amin Adam insists that while other contestants are loyal members, the party must prioritize winnability over friendship to secure its political future and ensure it does not face a decade in the political wilderness.
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