New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Sekondi and Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, has said he's unsure whether the poll reportedly conducted by the National Investigation Bureau (NIB) on the selection of a running mate for the governing party's flagbearer was sanctioned by the government.

He argued that if the NIB conducted the poll independently, they should have extended it to include all the various political party flagbearers and not just the governing NPP flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

“That’s why I said I’m not even sure if this was sanctioned by the flagbearer or by the government. I do not know and I cannot sit here to pretend to know,” he said on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, June 22.

Mr Mercer stated that if the poll conducted by the NIB was outside their mandate, then it was something they should not have done.

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

He stated, “In any event, I have said that the exercise in itself, to the extent that it creates an impression of some pressure on the vice president, I do not support.”

He also voiced apprehension regarding the leakage of the NIB survey, which purportedly detailed the preferred running mate choice for Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

He described the leak of the supposed survey as "obviously unwarranted," emphasising that the decision regarding Dr Bawumia's running mate ultimately rests with him.

Mr Mercer cautioned that if Dr Bawumia were to publicly announce his choice and it coincided with the findings of the leaked survey, it might wrongly imply that he was influenced by external factors, such as the NIB's purported findings.

Read also: NIB survey on Bawumia’s running mate unwarranted – Egyapa Mercer

He reiterated his belief that Dr Bawumia's decision-making process should be free from any coercion or outside influence, emphasising that the ultimate goal is to strengthen the party's prospects ahead of the upcoming elections.

"I would have preferred that no such survey, obviously unwarranted by the NIB, because it creates the sense that Dr Bawumia is being pressured to make a certain decision. But thankfully, his spokesperson has spoken and has indicated that he [Dr Bawumia] made up his mind long ago as to who he is going with."

"So, even though I am not in the known of what is in his mind if it coincides with what the survey has generated, then you will have people wanting to conclude that maybe it is what the survey said that has made him make such a choice," he said.