NPP Special Delegates Conference: Bawumia energizes supporters in final stretch

Front runner, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has hit the campaign trail in the final stretch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) super delegates congress as he seeks to energize his supporters with a message of gravitas ahead of the polls on Saturday.

The Vice President is focusing his efforts in the five regions of the north namely Upper West, Upper East, Northern, North East and Savannah regions, before dashing southward for a mop-up in the Bono and Ashanti regions.

His campaign officials told The Thunder on Tuesday that Dr. Bawumia is seeking to energize his supporters , even as all polls point to him as the obvious choice to lead the NPP. “Dr. Bawumia is on course; his strategy is working very well and we are optimistic that Dr. Bawumia will not only be in the final five but will go ahead to win the presidential primary to lead the NPP to win the 2024 elections,” a campaign official said in an interview.

Five places
Ten aspirants are battling it out on Saturday for five places in the presidential primary in November this year.
The imposing presence of Dr. Bawumia in the NPP flag bearer race has never been in doubt. His approval ratings have been very high and he has led in all opinions polls.

Northern MPs support
Meanwhile, all NPP MPs in the five regions of the north have thrown their weight behind Dr. Bawumia in Saturday’s polls.

The Deputy Majority Chief Whip and MP for Tolon, Habib Iddrisu, said they, and other stakeholders are convinced that the Vice President is the best option to lead the NPP to break the eight-year election cycle jinx. For that reason , he said, the MPs have taken the decision to bear the cost of water, food, transportation and other expenses during the Super Delegates Conference in the five regions of the north.

“There is no budget with a specific figure, but we have come to the conclusion that this is what we will do to help the Vice President as he participates in the Super Delegates Conference so that he can focus on other regions. We have not set a figure of GH¢100 or GH¢200, but we are prepared to bear whatever costs are incurred.”

“Because of the Vice President’s background and the work he has done, as well as his participation in this election, we want to be able to support him so that he can focus on other regions. We are convinced that he is very competent to lead the party, and we are convinced that he is the best person to lead the party to break the eight-year cycle. This is a small token we can give to help him,” he said.

Voting
The polls will take place in all 16 regional capitals and the party headquarters at Asylum Down. A total of 956 delegates are expected to cast their ballots. They include National Council, the National Executive Committee, all Regional Executive Committee, all Members of the National Council of Elders and all the Party Members of Parliament.

The rest are three representatives of each of the special organs of the party, past national officers,  three representatives each from every external branch (27 branches in all), founding members during the registration of the party at the Electoral Commission,  and  all party card bearing ministers