The campaign team of Bryan Acheampong, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential hopeful, says it remains unfazed following the endorsement of former Vice President and fellow flagbearer hopeful Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia by 118 former NPP parliamentary candidates.
In an interview with Citi News, Mpraeso MP and campaign team member Davies Opoku Ansah insisted that the endorsement would not affect their momentum. He stressed that the team remains focused on mobilising delegates ahead of the party’s January 31 presidential primary and are confident of victory.
“If they were to go back to their constituencies and do a little research, they will know that the endorsement they did yesterday was absolutely unnecessary. Most of them are campaign managers, team members for Dr. Bawumia.
“If you go to the constituencies and engage properly, this last-minute attempt to sway minds will not be necessary. We are on the grounds and we are working. Hopefully Saturday, Dr. Bryan Acheampong would have visited 276 constituencies and then we will begin our mop-up. We are sure of victory,” he stated.
On Thursday, January 8, some 118 NPP parliamentary candidates from the 2024 general election publicly declared their support for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia ahead of the party’s presidential primaries, describing him as the most prepared and winnable candidate.
At a press conference, the group said their endorsement was based on Dr. Bawumia’s experience, competence, vision, and leadership qualities, insisting that none of the other flagbearer hopefuls could be compared to him.
Addressing journalists, the leader of the group and former Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, said the candidates had carefully assessed the credentials of all aspirants contesting the party’s flagbearership.
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Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for Bimbilla and former Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, has dismissed claims that support for Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in Northern Ghana is driven by shared ethnicity, insisting that political backing in the region has always been based on competence and performance.
Speaking at a gathering, during Dr Bawumia’s visit to Yendi ahead of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential primary scheduled for January 31, 2026, Mr Nitiwul said history clearly shows that voters in the north do not support candidates simply because of where they come from.
“Since the beginning of Ghana, Northerners have never in their lives voted because the person comes from the north. Northerners, especially the UP and NPP, have never voted because the person is a northerner,” he stated.
To support his argument, Mr Nitiwul cited historical precedents, noting that the Northern People’s Party, despite having more Members of Parliament, supported Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia of the Ghana Congress Party to lead the opposition in Parliament.
He also referenced the NPP’s own political history, pointing out that Northern members of the party backed John Agyekum Kufuor and later Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as presidential candidates and presidents, even when there were aspirants from Northern Ghana.
“Today we’re not rooting for Dr Mahamadu Bawumia because he is Northerner. We’re rooting him because he is the most competent person. He is the one that will give us power in 2028,” Mr Nitiwul said.
