Prominent media personality Bridget Otoo has claimed that NDC flagbearer, John Mahama, saw a significant increase in his votes during the 2020 general elections due to the influence of Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang on his campaign.
She noted that more women voted for John Mahama because of the presence of Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate.
In an article, Bridget Otoo highlighted the impact of an event called “In Conversation with Prof. Jane Naana Opoku,” which brought together apolitical women from various sectors to meet and engage with Prof. Opoku-Agyemang.
This event, according to Otoo, convinced many women to support the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2020 elections.
Mrs Otoo noted that women’s groups who would not typically associate with any political party, let alone the NDC, showed up to listen and engage with Prof. Opoku-Agyemang.
She stated that these women were proud to have a woman as the vice-presidential candidate and were impressed by Mahama’s advocacy for women’s rights in Ghana. As a result, they actively campaigned for the NDC, which reflected in the election results.
Bridget Otoo compared the 2016 and 2020 election results, highlighting that the NDC’s support increased significantly in 2020, partly due to Prof. Opoku-Agyemang’s presence on the ticket. She noted that while the NPP’s votes also increased, their lead over the NDC narrowed significantly in 2020.
“For reference, the 2016 election results for the NDC with John Mahama and Amissah Arthur were 4,771,188 representing 44.53% of the voting populace, while the NPP with Nana Akufo Addo and Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia saw 5,755,758 votes, representing 53.72%.
“This, at the time, was an outright rejection of the NDC by Ghanaians. But when In 2020, the NDC re-presented the same Presidential candidate and campaign with the only clear difference being their candidate for Vice in Prof. Jane Naana Opoku, the results were staggering. More than just an improvement, the margin was considerably thinner, and a clear indication to all that the NDC was very much still alive.
“There were some who were convinced that the 2020 results would be worse than 2016, and yet when the time came, the NDC pulled in 6,213,182 votes compared to NPP’s 6,730,587. For context While the NPP’s votes may have gone up by 974,829 votes from the previous elections, the NDC’s support had increased by 1,441,994 which is no small feat,” she wrote.
The article comes as former President John Dramani Mahama has chosen to retain Prof. Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate for the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
The NDC is eagerly anticipating the Council of Elders’ meeting on March 7, 2024, to deliberate on the running mate nominee. The party’s General Secretary, Fifi Kwetey, confirmed that the National Executive Committee would also meet later that day to further consider the nomination.
The party has assured that whoever is selected will complement Mahama’s vision as they strive to “Build the Ghana We Want together.”