Vice-President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is confident of winning the presidential primary of the governing New Patriotic Party scheduled to take place on November 4.
Speaking to the media following the outcome of the Special Delegates Conference, Dr. Bawumia said his commanding lead in the conference is a stepping stone to his eventual victory in the main primary.
“I’m glad and thankful to God for the emphatic nature of my win. But this is only a first step towards our march to the flagbearership,” he stated.
“We are going to have a primary on November 4 and the primary will eventually select a flagbearer. So I see this as a step in the direction of winning the flagbearership of the party”.
The Vice-President emerged top in the exercise organised to trim down the number of aspirants to 5 in line with the Constitution of the party .
He polled 629 votes, which represent 68.15 percent of the total 923 valid ballots cast. Member of Parliament for Assin Central Constituency, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong followed him with 132 votes whiles former Trades Minister, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen and former Agric Minister, Dr. Afriyie Owusu Akoto secured 95 and 36 votes, placing third and forth respectively.
There’s, however, a tie in the fifth spot as two candidates, Francis Addai Nimo and Boakye Kyeremateng Agyarko scored 9 votes each.
The party has scheduled Saturday, September 2, 2023, to hold a runoff between the two candidates to break the tie.
Dr. Bawumia, who spoke minutes after the declaration of the results, called for unity among party members particularly the contestants.
He stated that the party’s quest to clinch another victory in 2024 can only be possible if members close their ranks and rally behind the eventual winner in the contest.
He, therefore, urged party members especially the contenders and their supporters to conduct themselves in ways that will not jeopardise the unity of the party.
“We all have to keep in mind that what we are working towards is a win in December 2024for the NPP. And therefore, to break the 8 in December 2024. This will require a lot of unity amongst ourselves as a party, amongst all the various flagbearer hopefuls”.
He added, “So it is very important as we go on this journey towards 2024 that we don’t have a situation where we have cracks in our ranks. We have to close ranks all the time. Therefore, we have to all work together in this process and not destroy this very important unity that we should have towards 2024 Elections”.
