Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Tongu Constituency Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has indicated that the selection of a female running mate is an advantage for the National Democratic Congress.

According to the legislator, selecting a female vice candidate is a major selling point for the party.

"This is the first time any of the two leading parties which have been dominant in the fourth republic [i.e the NDC and NPP] has selected a female running mate. It's a major selling point.

"It's historic and it gives you that spring in your steps. It gets you to go the extra mile and that's what such historic nominations do," he told JoyNews' Evans Mensa.

Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang was approved by the NDC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) at the party’s headquarters at Adabraka in Accra Monday.

The announcement brings closure to months of speculation and several fake news stories on the Mr Mahama's choice of running mate for his comeback bid.

The selection has been welcomed by many in the party including Mr. Ablakwa who believes the move is a precedence that will reinforce the commitment of party members, especially those at the grassroots.

"The rank and file of our politics that is the party apparatchiks, they love it when you make history.

"It's like the days when Obama was selected. He won the support of many, because he was the first Black Candidate contesting in the elections and people loved him because it was historic," he said.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang is a veteran educationist and became the first female Vice-Chancellor of a public university of Ghana when she was appointed to head University of Cape Coast (UCC) in 2008.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang was also appointed as Education Minister under the erstwhile Mahama government in 2012, a position she held until the party lost power in 2016.