Bawumia and Kennedy Agyapong the Main Contenders as NPP Votes in Presidential Primary Today
- The New Patriotic Party elect its flagbearer ahead of the 2028 general elections ina primary election on January 31
- Delegates nationwide will cast their votes in what is considered one of the most significant internal exercises for the party
- The presidential primary pits five aspirants against one another, including former Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia
Ghana's main opposition New Patriotic Party is staging its critical presidential primary today.
This primary is uncharacteristically happening just over a year after the most recent general election.
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The NPP suffered a heavy defeat in the most recent general election, which manifested in 41% of the vote and only 87 out of 276 seats in Parliament after losing several parliamentary strongholds.
The relatively early primary has been attributed to the NPP’s desire to quickly find a leader to unite against ahead of the 2028 general election. The party has not had a substantive National Chairman since Stephen Ntim, who requested a withdrawal from all party duties in June 2025.
Observers are watching to see if the NPP can reemerge as a unified and credible alternative to President John Mahama’s ruling National Democratic Congress.
The five aspirants contesting the presidential primaries are Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, Kennedy Agyapong, Dr Bryan Acheampong and Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum.
The NPP has indicated that 211,849 delegates are expected to vote in the election across Ghana’s 276 constituencies.
The voting will take place at 333 polling centres with polls opening at 0700 hours and closing at 1400 hours.
Each constituency will generally have one centre, except in cases where the number of delegates exceeds 1,000, where additional voting points will be created within the same locality.
The Greater Accra region has the most voters, with 40175 voters, followed by the Ashanti Region with 36,626. The North East region has the fewest delegates with 3,645.
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The Ghana Police Service will deploy between 70 and 150 officers at each polling centre for security. There will also be military support in selected areas, particularly parts of the Upper East Region.
The NPP says the Ghana Police Service is the sole security agency responsible for security at its presidential primary.
The party leadership has said it does not want National Security operatives or other non-police security personnel near the process.
GNA reported that the police started deploying logistics two days before the election.
Akufo-Addo advises flagbearer aspirants
Former President Nana Akufo-Addo warned aspirants that the NPP was bigger than any individual.
Akufo-Addo stressed that unity was critical to the party.
“Unity is not an option, a strategic necessity to victory,” he said at the Peace Pact signing involving the five NPP presidential aspirants on Thursday, January 22, 2026.
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, also cautioned all the aspirants to rise above short-term emotions.
Alarm raised over intense vote buying
YEN.com.gh reported that concerns have again been raised about vote-buying ahead of the election. Election Watch Ghana believes aspirants are heading into the poll with warchests filled with at least GH¢150 million.
The election monitoring group believes this cash is meant to sway delegates through inducements such as hotel accommodation, transportation costs, feeding and payment of per diems.
The campaigns have already devolved to intense delegate-level bargaining with promises of future appointments, regional balancing calculations and quiet alliances among local power brokers.
Source: YEN.com.gh
