The 2020 general election has been one of the most interesting yet. As the drama still unfolds, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is yet to accept the Electoral Commission’s (EC) declaration of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Nana Akufo-Addo.

However, the parliamentary election makes for a different ball game as the possibility of a hung parliament beckon.

The EC’s verdict in the parliamentary aspect puts the number of seats for the NPP at 137 while the NDC has 136, one independent candidate and a yet-to-be-declared Sene West constituency.

Nevertheless, the parliamentary seats in the Northern Region have gone beyond contention as the job for the winners is clearly cut out.

Since the inception of the 4th republic, the NDC has had a hold on the region.

Here’s a brief breakdown of how the major political parties have fared in the region’s parliamentary representation since 1996.

1996 NPP 3 - NDC 9; 2000 NPP 2 - NDC 12; 2004 NPP 4 - NDC 12; 2008 NPP 3 - NDC 12; 2012 NPP 6 - NDC 11; 2016 NPP 9 - NDC 9; 2020 NPP 9-NDC 9.

In the region, both the NDC and NPP secured 9 seats apiece in this year’s elections. Though it was the trend in 2016, for a region with a history of an NDC dominance, this year’s development tweaks the dynamics.

Many have fished out two constituencies in this scheme of things to have had a peculiar path, Gushegu and Karaga.

Hassan Tampuli of the NPP secured the Gushegu seat with 30,373 against the NDC’s 28,059.

What is baffling is that, the Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) entered the race with just five months to election day and was not given a dogs chance.

There were also allegations of the incumbent and some party executives running down his campaign from some quarters.

However, he persevered through an intense campaign which enabled him to put up an admirable fight in the race to parliament.

He did not only win the parliamentary seat, but also boosted the President’s win with 31,021 over John Mahama’s 26,414 votes in the constituency. In 2016, President Akufo-Addo gained 21,048 (51.23%) whilst his closest contender, John Mahama earned 19, 319 (47.02).

The NPP’s presidential votes increased by a margin of 9,973 votes in the 2020 elections. This includes a record number of (over 9,500) votes in the Konkomba communities against the (5000) votes garnered in that area in 2016.

In Karaga, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam also made a name for himself with his performances. A former DCE under the Kufour administration, he flipped the seat which has traditionally been held by the NDC, breaking the long-held monopoly.

The 28,335 votes secured by the Deputy Energy Minister was enough to give him a decisive victory with a margin of almost 9,000 votes against the 19,690 garnered by the NDC’s parliamentary candidate.

The 28,335 figure is almost 167 percent increase in NPP’s votes compared to the 10,798 votes recorded by the 2016 NPP parliamentary Candidate.

Similarly, he rallied unprecedented votes for the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, who won in Karaga for the first time with a margin difference of 6,386 votes. Nana Akufo-Addo secured 26,270 votes against John Mahama’s 19,884 votes.

The verdict of the two has been touted by some as the anchor on which the NPP’s Northern Regional base is expected to be held. The two men, from their record in government, will be a quality addition to Parliament and possibly as fresh faces in President Akufo-Addo’s ministerial team.

Others including the son of the late former Vice President of Ghana Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Farouk Aliu Mahama, also won the Yendi parliamentary seat for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) with 40,624 votes whiles his main contender, Alhassan Abdul Fatawu Jofa of the opposition NDC garnered 24,755 of the votes.

Defense Minister Dominic Nitiwul also retained his seat in the Bimbila constituency, whiles his colleague, Musah Abdul Aziz Ayaba for the first time in 28 years, won the Mion seat for the NPP.

He polled 21,552 votes to beat his closest contender and the incumbent MP, Abdul-Aziz Mohammed of the NDC, who had 14,158 votes.

In the Nanton constituency, Hardi Tuferu retained the seat for the NPP. Elsewhere in the Tolon constituency, the NPP parliamentary candidate Habib Iddrisu stretched the NPP's parliamentary vote difference of 1,057 in 2016 to 9,200 in this year’s polls while President Nana Akufo-Addo beat John Mahama with a vote difference of 6,900 compared to the 300 votes in 2016.

NPP's overall presidential performance in the Northern region currently stands at 409,963 as against the NDC's 476, 550.

In 2016 the NDC had 389,132 votes whilst the NPP had 286,868.