The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Frimpong Kodua, says the party’s defeat in the Akwatia by-election should not be seen as a reflection of the 2028 general elections.

Speaking in an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem programme, Mr. Kodua explained that elections are about winning or losing, and the outcome in Akwatia was not unexpected given the constituency’s history.

In every election, it is either you win or you lose. The Akwatia seat is a swing constituency, and whichever party wins does so by a very small margin, he said.

He added that the NPP went into the by-election fully aware of the odds against them.

For a party in government, the NDC campaigned mainly on development and told the people to vote for them based on that. That message helped them and influenced some parts of the constituency, he explained.

Mr. Kodua noted that the 15,235 votes obtained by the NPP’s candidate showed the party remained strong in the constituency.

The 15,000 votes we had prove that the NPP is still very strong in Akwatia. I am very happy with the performance of our candidate and the support we received. We will be watching closely to see if the NDC will indeed bring the development they promised, he added.

He commended the NPP candidate, constituency executives, and party members for their hard work despite the loss, while expressing gratitude to God for a peaceful by-election.

This by-election will not bring us down. I want to thank our candidate, our constituency executives, and all the bigwigs who came to support us. Above all, we thank God for a successful by-election, Mr. Kodua said.

He maintained that the outcome of the by-election should not be seen as a preview of the 2028 general elections.

This by-election is not a reflection of what will happen in 2028. We knew it was going to be a very difficult contest for us following the passing of our MP, Ernest Kumi, but the NPP has demonstrated great strength, he emphasised.

The Electoral Commission’s certified results showed Bernard Bediako Baidoo of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) winning the by-election with 18,199 votes, while the NPP’s Kwame Asumadu polled 15,235 votes.