North Tongu Member of Parliament (MP), Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has strongly criticised the evident regional bias in the selection process of the running mate for the governing New Patriotic Party's (NPP) flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

The former Deputy Education Minister described these actions as appalling and called for collective condemnation.

According to Mr Ablakwa, a person's regional background, ethnicity, or tribe should not be a factor considered in determining their suitability for public service roles.

• Read also: No running mate can save the NPP ticket, this gov’t must leave immediately – Ablakwa

Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile programme on Saturday, June 22, the lawmaker emphasised that the primary focus should be on competence rather than any other irrelevant criteria.

He expressed concern that failure to address this issue promptly could undermine the democratic progress Ghana has made.

"As somebody who has really followed Kwame Nkrumah, a pan-Africanist and was excited about how our politics began in this country, I must condemn the degeneration. This regionalism, ethnicism and tribalism when it comes to positions, a person must come from a particular region…look, I pray for the day that all these things won't matter," he stated.

• Read also: Opoku Prempeh leads in NPP’s choice of running mate for Bawumia – NIB Survey

The National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) has conducted a survey to determine the preferred running mate for Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in the upcoming elections.

According to the NIB survey, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Energy, emerged as the top choice among party members to partner with Dr Bawumia.

As of now, Dr Bawumia has not yet announced his running mate for the election, a delay that some political analysts have criticised.

The NIB report sampled the opinions of 5,116 NPP delegates nationwide, including executives at the national, regional, constituency, and polling station levels. It revealed that 76.2% of respondents favoured Dr Prempeh as Dr Bawumia’s running mate.

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, received 10.16% of the responses, indicating some level of support among the party delegates surveyed.

Other candidates mentioned in the survey include Apostle Opoku Onyinah, former Chairman of the Pentecost Church-Ghana, and Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Agriculture and MP for Abetifi Constituency. Their support levels were not specified in the report.