A Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Prof. Ransford Gyampo, has stated that despite the overwhelming support of New Patriotic Party (NPP) members for Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh as running mate, their choice does not entirely matter.

According to him, party faithful will vote for the party in the general elections regardless of who is chosen as a running mate for flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

As such, it is important to have Dr Bawumia choose someone he is comfortable with, who will complement him, and who will help draw in many votes, especially from floating voters, Prof. Gyampo said on PM Express on JoyNews.

“Partisan de-alignment in developing democracies is often minimal. As in, if somebody is an NPP supporter, it is oftentimes difficult for them to de-ally, in a way they can say that, well, I'm not going to vote. But they would not move easily from NPP to NDC, and vice versa.”

“And so NPP supporters are going to be supporters of the party in any way, regardless of whoever is fielded as their ally mate. And so whether it is going to be Napo (Dr Opoku Prempeh) or whoever, for me, it depends on who the flag-bearer of the party wants, and who the flag-bearer will be comfortable working with. To my mind, what is important is not really what the party wants,” the Political Science Lecturer said.

Prof. Gyampo further highlighted some additional qualities the running mate must possess aside from complementing Dr Bawumia.

“What is important is he who would be able to go beyond the party support base to reach out to election candidates. NPP support base would always be there, even though their support base has been scattered, especially in the Ashanti region, a little by the Alan factor. But if you take that away, the support base of the NPP will be there but they are not enough.”

“Their support base will not be enough to make them win any election. And so you are looking for a candidate who will be able to help Dr Bawumia to go into the other political divide and also to appeal to floating voters, win them to the side of Dr Bawumia,” Prof Gyampo said.

Additionally, he emphasised that it is important for the NPP flagbearer to choose a running mate who appeals to the Christian majority in Ghana.

“Whether we like it or not, Ghana is made up of over 70% Christians. The other religions can share the rest of the 30%. And he who will be able to help Dr Bawumia enough is he who the Christian folks will feel comfortable with. He will be able to attract the Christian support base to balance the religion of Dr Bawumia, to make the Christians also feel a bit comfortable.”

“Last but not the least, is he that Ghanaians are comfortable that, look, should Dr Bawumia not be there, he would be enough. He would have the adequate persona, the temperament, the sobriety, the statesmanship to be able to serve as the acting president in the absence,” Prof Gyampo noted.

This follows a National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) survey revealing that Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh is widely preferred among party members to be the running mate to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia.

The survey engaged 5,116 NPP delegates nationwide, including national, regional, constituency, and polling station executives.

According to the study, Dr Opoku Prempeh secured 76.2% of the responses from executives polled.

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

Following him was the Minister of Education and MP for the Bosomtwe, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, who garnered 10.16%.

Other notable personalities the delegates consider for the role include Apostle Opoku Onyinah, former Chairman of the Pentecost Church-Ghana, and Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Agriculture and MP for Abetifi Constituency.

As Dr Bawumia faces the challenge of choosing among some bigwigs of the party, the survey reveals that there was a strong consensus that the running mate should be selected from the Ashanti Region.