The decision of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to hold its flagbearership election before electing its executives appears to have divided the party.
A number of leading figures have criticised the move, despite an explanation by the General Secretary, Justice Frimpong Kodua, that having the flagbearership election before the executive election is in the interest of the party.
According to Kodua Frimpong, the presidential elections slated for 2026 will not favour any presidential candidate hopeful as widely propagated.
The General Secretary, in an interview with Channel One TV, on June 19, 2025, argued that having the executive election first before the flagbearership election will not make any difference.
“If you have monitored our electoral history from 1992, 1996 to 2000, at every election, from national through to polling stations, about 70%, sometimes even 80%, of current executives retain their positions,” he said.
Critics have said that it could negatively impact the party’s effort to unite ahead of the 2028 elections.
Here is what these leading members of the NPP have said.
‘It looks as if we’re rushing to elect the flagbearer’ – Addai Nimo:
Francis Addai Nimo, a former NPP Member of Parliament for Mampong and a presidential candidate hopeful, is one of the leading members criticising the move by the party.
He has asserted that the leadership of the party seem to be in a haste to elect its flagbearer for the 2028 election.
“A lot of the party’s faithful are not happy about the 31st January 2025 date presented by the National Council.
“It looks as if we’re rushing to elect the flagbearer,” he said in the Twi dialect.
January 31st primary is premature – Addai Nimo
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‘It is total nonsense!’ – Boakye Kyeremateng Agyarko:
Former flagbearer hopeful for the NPP, Boakye Kyeremateng Agyarko, a former Minister of Energy under Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has slammed the National Executive Committee over the decision to change the internal elections approach to a top-down system.
He questioned the rationale behind the change in approach, which previously involved electing party executives before selecting a flagbearer, but has now been changed to prioritise the election of a flagbearer before executives.
He suggested that the decision was made to serve certain selfish interests within the party.
“What has caused them to change the bottom-top approach to top-bottom approach? Who builds a house starting from the roof before constructing the foundation? It’s either some people don’t understand politics or are just being selfish and greedy. Why will you elect a flagbearer before national and regional executives? It is total nonsense!” Agyarko stated.
NPP presidential aspirant hopeful Boakye Agyarko has strongly criticized the National Executive Committee’s decision to conduct the presidential primaries before the national executive elections, describing it as nonsense and motivated by greed.
He argued that if the party… pic.twitter.com/mBbHYbc2ku
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‘It does not make sense’ – Davis Opoku:
The party’s current Member of Parliament for Mpraeso, Davis Ansah Opoku, questioned the rationale behind setting a date for the party’s flagbearer elections before critical decisions affecting the grassroots structure of the party are finalised.
“The date that has been set, 31st January 2026, it doesn’t really add up, it doesn’t make sense,” he said.
According to him, the party is yet to adopt new proposals expected to be deliberated on at the NPP’s upcoming Annual Delegates Conference in July 2025, including structural adjustments to the number of polling station executives increasing from five to seven. It was passed, and will require elections across all polling stations to reconstitute the party’s local leadership.
“How do you put into motion a presidential campaign when the party’s base is about to change? Are they to campaign for the existing five executives or the incoming?” he asked.
‘The devil has taken over the NPP’ – Dr Amoako Baah:
Dr Amoako Baah, a staunch member of the NPP and a senior political scientist at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, has also called out the leadership of the party over its decision.
Speaking in an interview on Onua TV on June 19, 2025, Dr Baah accused former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of being behind the move, which will allow the same people who chose the party’s flagbearer for the 2024 election to choose the one for the 2028 election.
“If you don’t study it carefully, you will not realise that someone is behind this. Nana Akufo-Addo is behind this, most likely, and he wants certain things to happen, but they will not succeed.
“We are going to be in opposition for a long time because the things happening are not good. I usually say that the devil has taken over our party, but this is not an insult to anybody; it is the truth,” he said in the Twi dialect.
BAI/VPO
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