Former National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Obed Yao Asamoah said making Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, the running mate of the party in the 2020 did not add anything to the fortune of the party.
He believes it was a big gamble and mistake to have gone to the election with the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast.
According to him, the former Education Minister did not add any value to the main candidate, John Dramani Mahama in the 2020 polls.
He said former President Mahama’s running mate in the 2020 general elections even failed to make any impact in her own backyard, the Central Region.
The former Attorney-General revealed that Prof Opoku-Agyemang even lost a seat in her home town to talk of other regions. “The lady who is a running mate to Mahama lost the Central Region in the last election. Lost a whole constituency,” the former Attorney-General told Accra based JoyNews’.
He said under Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang’s watch; the NDC lost a seat in her home Region.
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost nine of its parliamentary seats to the opposition NDC which swept 13 out of the Region’s 23 seats with nine of them being new, snatched from the NPP.
Prior to the 2020 general election, the NPP had 19 seats while the opposition NDC held four parliamentary seats in the Region. However, the NPP won the presidential election in the Central region, one of the swing regions, raising question about the effective of Mahama’s running mate in the in the 2020 elections.
Dr. Asamoah however expressed fear this could repeat itself for the party in the 2024 general elections if Mahama settles on 2020 running mate.
According to him, the NDC must rethink of sending Prof. Opoku-Agyemang once again as a running mate, saying that “there has to be some fresh thinking.
“There could be some amends we make to make her succeed. But for now, she didn’t make an impact.”
Dr Obed Asamoah believes the NDC could have lost completely if not for the votes the party amass in the Greater Accra Region.
He cited the disagreement between government and spare parts dealers as one of the factors that worked in favour of the NDC.
Dr. Asamoah noted that “They (spare parts dealers) thought that the taxation against them was too much. A lot of them supported the NDC. We were prepared to allow Okada. That was also a significant factor against the NPP.”
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