Election 2020: I will support Mahama to lead NDC – Ayine

I will support former President John Dramani Mahama to lead the National Democratic Congress into the 2020 elections, a former deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice Dr. Dominic Ayine says.

He said, despite his respect for the rest of the candidates wishing to lead the umbrella party into the 2020 polls including the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin, Mahama is the only sure bet for NDC recapturing power in 2020.

In an interview on Starr Chat with Bola Ray, Dr. Ayine stated, “I respect Alban Bagbin, he is a great person in our party, he is very knowledgeable [and] his contribution to the party cannot be measured.”

“[But] geopolitically, I don’t think that Bagbin shot will have traction,” he added.

Dr. Ayine, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga East, continued that supposing for the sake of argument that former President Mahama is eliminated from the race, the NDC may not be in the position to allow another Northerner to lead it into the 2020 polls.

Former President Mahama lost the 2016 elections to President Akufo-Addo. Akufo-Addo garnered 5, 716, 609 votes, representing 53.84 percent to snatch the presidency from Mahama who secured 4,713,277 votes, representing 44.40 percent.

The NDC also lost more than 40 parliamentary seats to the NPP, which gave the latter majority in Parliament.

Akufo-Addo won the election after a third term bid.

Mr. Bagbin who described his 2020 presidential ambition to be “as clear as daylight” noted in 2017 on Starr Chat that he was not surprised his party lost the 2016 elections.

The veteran lawmaker who has served as both Minority and Majority Leader in Parliament under different administrations said he “saw the NDC 2016 election defeat” coming because he had warned the party about it.