Former President John Dramani Mahama, has, yet again, recorded a landslide victory in the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) presidential primaries to emerge as the party’s torchbearer for the 2024 general elections.
Mr Mahama got 297,603 of the valid votes cast representing 98.9 per cent ahead of KojoBonsu who garnered 3,181 votes representing 1.1 per cent in distant second.
A third candidate, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, a former Minister of Finance, who pulled out of the race on Friday night has not been assigned any votes though his name and picture was on the ballot paper.
This is the fourth time Mr Mahama is recording similar figures in the internal polls of the NDC having amassed 99.5 per cent of the valid votes in 2012, 95.10 per cent in 2015 and 95.24 per cent in a seven-man race in 2019.
Director of Electoral Services at the Electoral Commission, Dr Serebour Quicoo, who declared the results of Saturday’s internal polls in the wee hours yesterday in Accra said there were 4,653 rejected ballots.
In total, he said, there were 305,437 votes cast across the 420 polling centres of the primaries in the 275 constituencies.
The primaries also saw the election of 262 parliamentary candidates of the party for next year’s elections.
In a short video posted on his Facebook page moments after the declaration of the results, Mr Mahama called on all party members to remain united to ensure the party emerged victorious in the 2024 general elections.
“I ask for cooperation among all our elected parliamentary candidates and the respective aspirants and supporters and all the constituencies across the country.”
The NDC, the former president said was the victor at the end of the exercise stressing the need for a united front into next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
“Our party is the winner because there are no individual winners and losers in the party’s contest.”
He was grateful to his campaign team “keeping their focus and delivering a clean campaign.”
To the donors and financiers of his campaign, the former president expressed his gratitude and urged them to support his campaign in his attempt to annex the presidency for the party having lost power in 2016.
This will be the fourth time the 64-year old will be on the ballot in a general election having contested in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
Mr Kojo Bonsu, a former Mayor of Kumasi, meanwhile, has conceded defeat and congratulated the former president for emerging victorious at the polls. Former President John Dramani Mahama
“I saw our former President John Dramani Mahama and his team work so hard every day than never before to achieve this accomplishment, and I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more than him at this moment. You set an amazing example for the NDC,” he said.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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