Former Member of Parliament for Yendi constituency, Dr Farouk Aliu Mahama, has responded to critics suggesting that Northerners are supporting Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to become the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) because he comes from the North.
He said such assertions are unfounded and factually inaccurate because northerners in the past rejected their own for other candidates who did not hail from the area.
Speaking during a media interview, the son of the late former Vice President of Ghana, Alhaji Aliu Mahama said his father who hailed from the North did not get the support of his people.
Additionally, he pointed out that Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu could not also earn the support of the North though he came from the area.
“My father as Vice President, when he contested wanting to be President, he didn’t get the support from the North. It is the same as Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu.”
He added, “So the North don’t choose people because they come from there. Even most of the votes from Yendi, my late father didn’t get more than the needed votes from his own backyard, same as Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu”.
Therefore, Dr Mahama argued that Northerners support Dr Bawumia not necessarily because he comes from the North. However, he noted the former Vice President is seen by many people in the NPP as the most competent person to lead the country’s largest opposition party into the 2028 general elections.
“…So the assertion that northerners are for Bawumia, northerners were not for Aliu Mahama either, northerners were not for Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu either.”
He indicated the people at that time were looking for someone who could win power for them, emphasising that, they saw Aliu Mahama as Vice President but they still went ahead and voted for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Meanwhile, the comments of Farouk Aliu Mahama comes on the back of critics of the former Vice President claiming he is been supported massively in up North because he hails from the area.
The NPP is scheduled conduct its presidential primary on Saturday, January 31, 2026. The campaign is heated up and the five aspirants are crisscrossing the country to rally support for victory.
