One of the leading members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has asked Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, not to contest in the party’s upcoming presidential race.

Dr. Richard Amoako-Baah insisted that Dr. Bawumia is not a true member of the party.

The Political Science Lecturer said he is not the person capable of leading the party.

“Bawumia is younger than the rest, truthfully, he is not a true blood NPP member. He is an outsider. Fine, he is done well, he has gone three times with Nana. Initially, people will push him to go.”

“He was with Nana one, two, and the third time they won. Now he wants another four years, that’s 16-years and after that, I am sure he will run again. Is he the only person in the party? That’s the question.”

Dr. Amoako-Baah also added that Dr. Bawumia’s ambition to lead the party into the 2024 polls is engendering rancour in the party.

“I want Bawumia to step aside because of the rancour between him and Alan’s camp, Bawumia should step aside, this is strategic. This is what political parties do and in this case, this is what the NPP should do,” he said in an interview with an Accra-based Starr FM.

The NPP is preparing to elect its next presidential candidate for the 2024 general elections.

Amongst the interested persons are; Dr. Bawumia, the Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, and the former Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko.

However, the two leading candidates are Dr. Bawumia and Alan Kyerematen.

Meanwhile, a former Communications Director of the Party, Nana Akomea, has asked the party to abort its plans for the presidential primaries and convince the two to run together.

According to Nana Akomea, the two meet the requirements of the north and south balance, and so taking advantage of that to allow them to run, will prevent a rancorous contest.

“The party should be able to have a consensus and have the two leading candidates, run together. For a very simple reason, for the first time, the two leading candidates satisfy the North-South divide. If Alan wins, he is most likely to choose a candidate from the North, if Bawumia wins, he is most likely to choose a candidate from the South. It is going to resolve an acrimonious situation that the party may not be able to recover from.”

“I would want a certain consensus to be built within the party to have the two of them run together. As to who becomes running mate, we should leave it to them once the party feels that is the way should go.”