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Alhaji Mohammed Shukurulah Bamba, a stalwart of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Northern Region, has appealed to party members to unanimously endorse vice President Dr (Alhaji) Mahamudu Bawumia as the party's 2024 presidential candidate.

He said Dr Bawumia was the only winsome candidate who could help the party to retain power.

"If we make a mistake and replace the vice president, there will be mass defections, especially from the North," he warned.

Alhaj Bamba told the GNA that Dr Bawumia was the brain behind the party winning the 2016 election and retaining the same in 2020, adding that it would be suicidal if he was not given the mandate to lead the party.

"Already some people have the perception that NPP never wants people of Northern extraction to lead the party. Such perceptions will be confirmed if Dr Bawumia is dropped just as happened to the late Alhaji Aliu Mahama," he explained.

"We are all witnesses to the role the vice president played in the campaign history of the NPP. Had it not been him, we would've been in opposition by now and we need to reward him by endorsing him to replace Nana Akufo-Addo," he said.

Alhaj Bamba said politics was about numbers and that Dr Bawumia had a large following nationwide, which members of the party must not underrate.

He said it was important for the leadership of the NPP not to lose grips on the North and that the surest way to maintain and increase votes from the Northern sector was not to abandon Dr Bawumia.

"Many of us will not hesitate to join other parties or stop active politics if Dr Bawumia is dropped. I am the founder of Bawumia Fun Club and a one-time NASARA aspirant and we have a lot of supporters across the board", he said.

"There are many of us who worked and are still working behind the scenes to always ensure victory for the party because of Bawumia and though our efforts had never been recognized, for the love for the party, we shall continue to give out our best," he said.

He claimed that it was only Dr Bawumia who could retain power for the NPP to break the eight-year term jinx in the country and asked those campaigning or endorsing other persons to have a second look at the situation since Dr Bawumia was the grassroots person and deserved to lead the party into the 2024 elections for victory.