Mahama once said if I want the north to support me, NPP should first elect me as flagbearer - Bawumia declares in Jirapa

The Vice President and Flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has gone back into the archives to use the old words of former President John Dramani Mahama against him.

Addressing an enthusiastic crowd in Jirapa, in the Upper West Region on Thursday, Dr. Bawumia said former President Mahama played tribal cards against the NPP, predicting that the NPP would never elect a northerner as its leader and that if he (Bawumia) was aiming to be President, he should first wait for the day the NPP would elect him as its leader and then the north could vote for him as President.

Interestingly, Mahama also made these remarks in the Upper West Region in the build-up to the 2016 elections.

"When I decided to contest for the flagbearership of the NPP, many people said it was not possible. They said it won’t happen. They said the NPP would never elect a northerner to be the leader. But I told them if God says it is possible, it will be possible," Dr. Bawumia said.

"So I went for the contest, and by the grace of God, I am the leader of the NPP."

"You will recall that some time ago, former President Mahama said that if the NPP wants the north to vote for them, they should elect Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. Today, the NPP has elected Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, so the north, it is now time to vote for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia."

The Vice President said with the two leading parties presenting northerners, himself and former President Mahama, as candidates, it will be an all-north affair, in what he described as "a historic election."

He, however, reminded the people of how former President Mahama had been President before and how he neglected Jirapa, the Upper West, and the entire northern regions without tangible development projects throughout his time as President.

"It is an important election and a historic election. This is the first time the two leading parties are presenting candidates from the north, so it is going to be a northern President. It is either Dr. Bawumia or former President Mahama. But former President Mahama has been President before, and I have not been. I have only been a Vice President, and my contributions to the development of the north are there for all to see.

"But do you recall what former President Mahama did for Jirapa, the Upper West Region, and the entire North? He said he set up SADA to develop the north, but after millions of dollars, we saw nothing. Can you point to any SADA projects here in Jirapa, the Upper West, and the northern regions? They said they invested in Guinea fowls, and when we asked them where are the Guinea fowls, they said they had flown to Burkina Faso."

"We want development, and we want to go forward. We want to go forward with digitalization and modern agriculture, not lip service and Guinea fowl, which Mahama represented."