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Delegates of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) have indeed proved that they are content with the signal and believe breaking the 8 is possible by endorsing Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as the party's flagbearer for the 2024 general elections.

Over 200,000 delegates participated in the election which was dubbed a ‘showdown’ between Dr Bawumia and Member of Parliament for Assin Central constituency Kennedy Agyepong in 277 constituencies across the country.

At the end of the contest, the Electoral Commission declared Dr Bawumia as the winner, after he secured 118,210 out of the total of 193,346 votes cast; representing an impressive 61.47%.

His closest rival, Ken Ohene Agyapong, secured 71,996 votes.

Dr. Afriyie Akoto and Francis Addai-Nimoh garnered 1459 and 781 votes respectively. 

Quite significantly, there was a whopping 900 rejected votes.

Super Delegates Conference

It may be recalled that Bawumia secured a commanding victory in the Super Delegates Conference, receiving 629 votes, which represented 68.15 percent of the total votes cast. Kennedy Agyapong secured the second position, while former Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen, came in third.

Bawumia tipped to win

Bawumia was tipped by most political analysts to win the primary based on his experience and ability to match the presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

According to a poll by Global Info Analytics, Dr Bawumia is still in the lead, followed by Kennedy Agyapong.

The Executive Director and Head of Global Research, Global Info Analytics, Mussa Dankwah said the opinion poll showed Dr Bawumia leading the race with 43.5 per cent, and his closest challenger, Mr Agyapong, with 23.5 per cent, while Mr Addai-Nimoh and Dr Afriyie Akoto took the third and fourth positions with 0.4 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively.

Pollster and managing news editor of the daily dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson, also predicted that Vice President Bawumia would win by a landslide.

According to him, he will win the primaries with about 73 percent of the 208,144 delegates voting for him.

What next

The next showdown will now be between Dr Bawumia and NDC Presidential candidate, former President John Dramani Mahama.

The NPP intends to break the '8' while the NDC is determined to stage a comeback.

The Digitalisation Man, Dr Bawumia

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, a Ghanaian economist and a banker, was born on October 7th, 1963. He is currently serving as the Vice President and the head of Ghana's Economic Management Team of Ghana.

Prior to his appointment as Vice President, Bawumia served as the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana. In 2008 and 2012, he was the Vice-Presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), running alongside the presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo.

During the 2012/2013 Presidential Election Petition, he served as the lead witness for the petitioners who challenged the election of John Mahama as the winner.

Under the current administration, Dr. Bawumia's digitalisation efforts have been a crucial driver of economic transformation.