New Patriotic Party (NPP) leader and presidential candidate Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the party has begun scouting for potential parliamentary candidates across the country ahead of the 2028 general elections.
According to Dr Bawumia, the initiative is aimed at identifying candidates with a strong chance of winning parliamentary seats, rather than relying solely on the outcome of the party’s internal primaries.
He explained that some aspirants may have the financial resources to win an NPP parliamentary primary but may not necessarily have the support needed to win the subsequent general election.
“We are going to do a candidate search across all the constituencies, because some people can win parliamentary primaries because they have money, but they can’t win the general elections,” he said.
Dr Bawumia warned that allowing such candidates to emerge solely through the primary process could result in the party losing seats during the general election.
“If you leave it to them, they will win the primary, but you’ve lost the seat,” he added.
Independent assessments
The NPP presidential candidate said the candidate search is already underway and will draw on multiple independent sources to assess potential parliamentary contenders.
“Candidate search is going on and we’re going to have more than one candidate search from independent sources. And we’ll compare what they are saying,” he said.
He explained that where the assessments identify an individual with strong prospects of winning a particular constituency, the party could approach the person and encourage them to contest on the NPP’s ticket.
“Because if we find out that this is the person who can win us the seat, we’ll persuade that person to come on board and help us to win the seat,” he added.
NPP seeks early completion of internal elections
Dr Bawumia also disclosed that the NPP intends to complete its internal elections as early as possible ahead of the 2028 general elections.
He said the process would begin with parliamentary constituency elections, including consultations with sitting Members of Parliament.
“We are going to also be looking to try to have our parliamentary elections as soon as possible, so that NPP will be done with internal elections,” he said.
He added that the party would seek to ensure transparency throughout the process.
The candidate search forms part of the NPP’s broader preparations for the 2028 elections, as the party seeks to identify parliamentary candidates capable of retaining existing seats and winning back constituencies across the country.
