Samuel Abu Jinapor
Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has described calls by a section of the public for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to select a running mate as premature.
He said the NPP should rather use this time to focus on internal restructuring ahead of the 2028 general election.
Speaking in an interview with the media, Mr. Jinapor said discussions about running mate has the tendency of distracting the party from the urgent task of reorganising and rebuilding its structures after selecting its presidential candidate.
According to him, the immediate focus should be on strengthening party structures to ensure internal issues, including challenges that led to its 2024 election defeat, have adequately been addressed, to enable the party win the 2028 election.
“Isn’t it too early? Isn’t it premature, we just had election and it’s less than a month. I think that our focus should be on reorganising and restructuring our party, putting the party together, and making sure that the horse, which Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is going to ride on into the election of 2028, which is the NPP horse, the NPP vehicle, machine, is fit for purpose,” he said.
“We need to ensure that vehicle is put together in a manner that it can go forward into this race with confidence, courage, and strength,” he said.
Mr. Jinapor, who is also a Member of Parliament for Damongo, said that politics requires careful strategy, likening it to a game of chess in which timing and balance are highly essential.
Former Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, emerged winner in the NPP’s flagbearer primary held on January 31, 2026, securing 56.48 percent of votes.
Mr. Abu Jinapor also disagreed with suggestions that the NPP should choose the running mate for the presidential candidate even before the National Democratic Congress (NDC) elects its presidential candidate.
He indicated that such a decision could place the NPP at a disadvantage, hence the need for the party to focus and reorganise its structures.
“Politics is a game of chess, and the running mate is supposed to complement the presidential candidate. Early decisions could expose the party strategically,” he added.
He also stated that the NPP would have to consider the context and the opponents’ candidate as a key factor in choosing a running mate who will complement its presidential candidate, Dr. Bawumia, to be able to wrestle power from the ruling NDC.
“Depending on who the NDC selects as their presidential candidate, that will also be a major consideration as to who becomes the vice presidential candidate, because that person will be required to complement Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,” he stated.
“We should focus on supporting the candidate to put the party together and put strategies together to make the NPP winnable in 2028. The question of vice presidential candidate, I believe, will come further down the road, not now,” he added.
Mr. Jinapor, however, stated that the choice of a running mate lies within the purview of the presidential candidate, although the constitution requires that such decisions should be made in consultation with the National Council of the party.
In July 2024, the National Council of the NPP unanimously approved the nomination of Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh as the running mate to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for the 2024 election.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah
Tags: Abu Jinapor, general news, New Patriotic Party, NPP, NPP Veep Talks
