The Vice Presidential candidate of the NPP, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia has denied media reports claiming he said he would beat John Mahama in any debate.He said the story carried by Daily Guide in its October 16, 2008 edition headlined “I will beat John” was misleading and the quotes in the story pure fabrications.In a statement issued in Accra Dr Bawumia said although the question of a vice presidential debate came during his Ashanti Regional tour, he never mentioned John Mahama or anyone else.The full statement is published below.DR. BAWUMIA DENIES DAILY GUIDE PUBLICATIONMy attention has been drawn to a publication by the Daily Guide newspaper on 16th October 2008 with the headline “I will beat John”. This article reports inter alia that “Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has stated he will beat Mr. John Mahama ….if they both engage in a debate. He pointed out that the NDC running mate would be no match for him when they come face-to-face to display their intellectual prowess and talk about policies to transform Ghana….. I will floor him anywhere, and I bet you, I will floor him without sweat”. I would like to state for the record that these quotes are a complete fabrication by whichever reporter filed the story. At the end of my Ashanti region tour, I was asked a question about whether I would welcome a vice presidential debate.My response (which is on tape) was simply that the election was about a contest of visions of the two political parties and not a vice-presidential contest.In that regard, there are already presidential debates scheduled for the presidential candidates to articulate the visions of the party. However, in the context of the campaign I was going to continue to make the case for my party at any forum. I never mentioned John Mahama or anyone else in my response.I was shocked to read that this response to the question had suddenly metamorphosed into the headline, story and quotes published by the Daily guide. I do not lay claim to having any “intellectual prowess”. That is ridiculous!John Mahama is my senior brother and I have the highest respect for him. I am sure we will both not fall for these schemes that try to knock our heads together.Politics should be about issues and not personalities and I will continue to focus on issues throughout this campaign.Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia NPP Running-mate