Bawumia had no choice than to concede defeat before official declaration – Basintale

According to Malik Basintale, the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) Deputy National Communications Officer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2024 NPP presidential candidate, was forced to accept defeat prior to the official results being announced.

He claimed that because Dr. Bawumia was behind by nearly two million votes, he was unable to challenge the result.

Basintale made a connection to the 2016 elections, when President-elect John Mahama contemplated accepting defeat during a period of high tension in Ghana, while speaking on JoyNews' AM Show on Monday, December 16. "We didn't have those tensions in the 2024 elections," he said. "2016 was a difficult one, and let me admit, many people told Mahama, 'Don't stroll in town.'"

The president-elect declared, "I love Ghana, I will stroll in town, let peace prevail," he continued. In the 2024 elections, Mr. Basintale asserted that the NDC had defeated the New Patriotic Party (NPP) handily. "This time, it was a disaster for the NPP," he stated.

He pointed out that Dr. Bawumia had no reason to anticipate a different outcome because it was swift, especially from the NDC's strongholds. For their work on election day, he gave the NDC election crew high marks.

"There was nothing Dr. Bawumia could have held onto," Mr. Basintale stated. "Maybe he could have held onto the 41%, but that would have taken him nowhere." The NDC was in a very comfortable lead.

Based on the findings, Mr. Basintale came to the conclusion that if he had been Dr. Bawumia, he would have counselled himself against going back to carry on the fight.