Managing Director of the State Transport Corporation (STC), Nana Akomea, has expressed the view that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s candidacy as the NPP’s flagbearer in the upcoming 2024 general elections provides the party with a strategic advantage to compete effectively against the NDC in the northern regions.
According to Akomea, the Vice President’s candidacy serves to dispel the long-held perception that the NPP is an exclusive party catering only to a specific demographic.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, he emphasized that Dr. Bawumia’s presence brings diversity and inclusivity to the party’s brand image.
“He gives the party a chance to diversify the branding; he gives us the opportunity to have a much more inclusive branding for the party. Over the period we’ve always had leadership from a certain group and this is the first time we’ve gone outside the group so it gives us a more inclusive image,” he said.
Nana Akomea also holds the belief that the candidacy of Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia is poised to have a significant impact on the electoral prospects of the NDC in the northern regions.
He highlighted that, following Dr. Bawumia’s roles as Vice President and now a presidential candidate, the NPP’s influence in the north has seen considerable growth. This growth has even extended to surpassing the NDC in parliamentary elections, according to Nana Akomea.
“Bawumia erases that propaganda and he gives us a fighting chance to neutralize the NDC in one of their strongholds which is the north. And if you look at the northern region, the NPP is now the majority party in the northern region. When the seats became 31 seats for the 2012 elections, NPP had ten and the NDC had the rest. I think there was one independent out of the 31 seats.
“As we speak today, NPP has 16 seats and NDC has 15. Who would have imagined that the NPP would today be the majority party in the northern region, but we are. And when you look at the presidential vote from 2008, it’s been going up for the number of constituencies the NPP has been winning since 2008 in the north, now we have almost shared it.
“We’ve won in about 14 and the NDC won 17 constituencies so we’re inching up the presidential, for the parliamentary we’ve taken over. And if you look at Bawumia’s home constituency, Walewale, we won it for the first time in 2012 and we’ve still retained it as our seat.
“So he gives us the best opportunity to give the NDC a showdown in some of their strongholds particularly in the north. And we also hope that in the zongos he’ll also give them a showdown. And if he’s able to neutralize the NDC in two of their strongholds that gives us a fighting chance to retain power,” he stated.