Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia will today, Friday, June 16, 2023, file his nomination forms to contest the New Patriotic Party’s Presidential primaries.
Writing on his Facebook page last Thursday, Dr Bawumia wrote: “Dear Friends, God willing tomorrow, Friday 16 June, I shall file my nomination forms and contest the New Patriotic Party (NPP: Development in Freedom) Presidential Primary. It is possible”.
Over the last couple of months, Dr Bawumia has undertaken extensive consultation on his ambition to contest the party’s flagbearership.
Vice President Bawumia met members of the Majority Caucus in Parliament, Council of Elders of the party and some traditional and religious leaders to announce his intentions to lead the NPP after the tenure of President Akufo-Addo in 2025.
Subsequently, Mr Fred Oware, a Senior Advisor at the Office of the Vice President, led a delegation to pick the nomination form on his behalf on Tuesday, May 30 at the party’s headquarters at Asylum Down to contest the party’s Presidential Primaries.
The leadership of the party on May 26, 2023 opened nominations for its Presidential Primaries and would close it on June 24, 2023.
Dr Bawumia is widely seen as a frontrunner for the NPP Presidential race, having played a key role in the party’s electoral victories in the 2016 and 2020 elections.
The filing of his nomination would set the stage for a highly anticipated contest between him and other potential candidates within the party.
The filing of nomination forms is a crucial step in the race to become the NPP’s Presidential candidate, and Dr. Bawumia’s decision to do so signals his readiness to engage in a rigorous campaign to secure the party’s endorsement.
So far, 10 presidential aspirants have also picked nomination forms to contest the party’s flagbearer slot.
They include Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, the immediate past Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the immediate past Minister of Food and Agriculture, Kennedy Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Joe Ghartey, the Member of Parliament for Essikadu-Ketan and former Minister of Railway Development and Kwabena Adjei Agyapong, a former General-Secretary of the party.
The leadership of the NPP has planned to organise a Special Delegates Congress on August 26, 2023, to select five of the presidential aspirants.
The top five aspirants will then go head-to-head on November 4, 2023, to stake claim to the flagbearer slot, and subsequently lead the party in the 2024 general election.