Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, has asked for an extension of time to confer with his running mate selection prior to the 2024 election.
At a press conference in Accra, the party’s general secretary, Justin Frimpong Kodua, made this announcement.
It comes after the NPP’s National Executive Committee and National Council held a pivotal meeting on the subject on Wednesday, December 6.
The purpose of the meeting was to comply with the party’s constitutional mandate, which states that in the event that the President is not a candidate, a running mate must be chosen 12 months prior to a significant election.
By giving Dr. Bawumia more time, the party has suspended its constitutional clause in order to conduct additional consultations.
The General Secretary acknowledged, in remarks made at the Alisa Hotel, “Today should have been the day that our leader of the party and presidential candidate should have presented his running mate to the National Council.”
“However, upon request from the presidential candidate that’s because his election was done on the 4th of November 23, he needs a bit of time to continue with his consultation before it brings the proposed name for running mate to the National Council. And this was unanimously agreed by the National Council,” he added.
Election 2024: Bawumia requests for extension of time to consult on his selection of running-mate.#ElectionHQ pic.twitter.com/yKMnPIIPkF
— Joy 99.7 FM (@Joy997FM) December 6, 2023
It is anticipated that the Vice President will suggest a running mate, whose suitability in terms of broad appeal to voters will need to be approved by the assembly.
In a previous interview with JoyNews, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Joseph Osei-Owusu stated that the party had decided that the candidate from the Ashanti Region would be the newly elected flagbearer’s running mate.
The Bekwai MP claimed that this was the only way to ensure the party’s victory in the general election of 2024.
The front-runners, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (Minister of Energy), Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum (Minister of Education), and Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (Minority Leader), will be weighing their chances against those of John Ampontuah Kumah (Deputy Finance Minister and Member of Parliament for Ejisu) and Rev. John Ntim Fordjour (Deputy Minister of Education), whose names have also been circulating.
