The Chiana-Paga Constituency chapter of ‘Friends of Bawumia’ (FOB) in the Upper East Region has called on delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to disregard calls by Mr Ayikoi Otoo to Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia (DMB) to waive his interest in the Party’s Flag bearer race.
The chapter further called on Mr Otoo, a former Attorney General to “rise above the politics of convenience.”
FOB is a group which propagates the works of Dr Bawumia, solicits support for him in the upcoming Presidential primaries of the NPP, and hopes to break the eight-year rule of political parties in Ghana with the Vice President as Flag bearer.
Leadership of FOB in a statement by Mr Desmond Abire Ayambire, the Chairman of the group, said the attention of the group was drawn to a publication on senaradioonline.com on 14th April, attributed to Mr Otoo with the headline “Wave your interest; it’s Alan’s time”.
The statement noted that in the said publication, Mr Otoo in an interview with Joy News, was said to have called on the Vice President not to contest the upcoming Presidential primaries of the Party to make way for Mr Alan Kyerematen with the reason that Dr Bawumia was still young.
“In the first place, we see this misplaced call by Hon. Ayikoi Otoo as a tacit admission of the popularity of DMB in the race even before the Vice President declares his intention to contest.
“If out of the many who have expressed interest in leading our party into the 2024 elections, Hon. Otoo sees none other than DMB to make this call too, it is a clear indication that the Alan Camp sees DMB as their main threat going into the contest,” the statement said.
Even though the statement was dissatisfied with the call, it was happy that the call was not premised on the qualifications and competencies of DMB to lead the NPP and the country, but was on the basis of age.
“We wish to emphasize that DMB’s qualifications, competencies and abilities to lead our party and country stand tall among all the potential candidates.
“One would have thought that someone like the revered Ayikoi Otoo would have gauged the current mood of the party and call on delegates to select a candidate who will make our mission of breaking the eight easier, DMB for that matter,” the statement added.
It said among the aspirants, DMB was the most marketed and popular candidate as his face had appeared on NPP’s campaign posters, flyers, billboards among others for four successive elections, saying “The party will thus require less efforts and resources in marketing him compared with the others.”
According to the statement, DMB was a threat to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) with his appeal to voters in the NDC’s strongholds namely the Zongos, Muslim communities, Northern and Volta Regions.
The statement indicated that the candidate Mr Otoo advocated for, did not wave his interest when it mattered most, and recalled that in 2007, Mr Kyerematen conceded to Akufo-Addo after he secured 32.5 per cent of votes as against Akufo-Addo’s 47.9 per cent.
“This however does not amount to him waiving his interest as he went on to contest Akufo-Addo in 2010, never mind then candidate Akufo-Addo had lost the 2008 elections through a run-off and was the most popular candidate for 2012. He secured 20.40 per cent as against Akufo-Addo’s 77.92 per cent,” it said.
It said Mr Kyerematen did not waive his interest but went on to contest Akufo-Addo in the next primaries, “not even his dwindling popularity could deter him. In that election, he recorded a paltry 4.75 percent as against Akufo-Addo’s 94.35 percent.
“If Hon. Ayikoi Otoo was minded by the dwindling popularity of Alan even within his own party, he would be redirecting his call to the appropriate quarters,” the statement added.
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