Member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) communications team, Ishaq Ibrahim (Esq.), has questioned claims by some party members and presidential aspirants suggesting that the NPP’s 2024 electoral defeat was caused by its flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to him, several factors contributed to the party’s loss in the 2024 general elections, beyond the influence of any single individual.
Mr. Ibrahim, who served on Dr. Bawumia’s campaign team during the 2024 elections, made the comments on Metro TV on October 16.
He referred to the campaign slogan used during that election which was “Breaking the 8” and explained the context behind it.
He noted that since 1992, no party has won more than two consecutive terms, which is eight years.
“It was something historic that we were going to do for the first time. So if somebody fails to do something historic, it means that the odds were already against us.”
“On this quarters, can you actually just blame Bawumia for that?” he asked.
“Look at the general atmosphere in 2023 and 2024, I’ll probably say there was almost an economic meltdown.”
He argued that the difficult economic conditions at the time were beyond the control of the NPP flagbearer.
“How can you really blame that with all honesty on the flagbearer of the party who was not actually holding the steer?” he said.
“External exigencies affected us as much as some mistakes that we made and are now admitting.”
Mr. Ibrahim cited the introduction of the E-Levy tax as one of the unpopular policies that cost the NPP support.
“The introduction of the e-levy tax affected us. It was a very, very unpopular tax,” he said.
He added that Dr. Bawumia himself may not have supported the policy but could not publicly oppose it because of appearing united.
“I believe based on his utterances, maybe because of the principle of collective accountability in cabinet he couldn’t mention it,” he explained.
“Look at January 2024, when he became the flagbearer, at the UPSA auditorium; one of his policies was to say he was going to abolish e-levy. For me, this was an admission that this was a mistake policy which he himself did not appreciate.”
Mr. Ibrahim also pointed to the menace and destructions caused by illegal mining (galamsey) as another issue that damaged the party’s image.
“Galamsey really, really affected us. Almost every day the headlines were about galamsey,” he said.
“Look at all these,how could you squarely blame the flagbearer of the NPP at that time?” He stressed.
The New Patriotic Party’s presidential primary is expected to be held in January 2026 to determine who will lead the party into the next general elections.
