A renowned and leading member of the New Patriotic Party Mr. Bugre Naabu who happens to be the brother of Nana’s Running Mate in the 2008 elections Dr. Mahmud Bawumia has urged Nana Akufo Addo and for that matter the Executive Council of the New Patriotic Party to pick the Hon. Deputy Minority Leader Ambrose Dery as Running Mate for the 2012 Presidential Elections.

Mr. Bugre Naabu made such a pronouncement based on a thoughtful consideration of all the factors that needs to be considered in selecting a Running Mate to Partner Nana. Unlike others Mr. Bugre Naabu is not much concerned about Religion, Ethnicity or any other unscientific indicator.

We the United Northern Youth for a Northern Running Mate to Nana in 2012 see Mr. Bugre Naabu’s call confirming a research that we have long conducted. In this research, we run all the potential northern candidates as Running Mate to Nana in 2012 through some performance indicators and consistently we found out that Hon. Ambrose Dery stands tall above any other personality.

Nana and the NPP will be making a terrible mistake if they go in for any other person other than Hon. Ambrose Dery. As Mr. Bugre Naabu rightly indicated, Hon. Ambrose Dery can pull votes from the Upper West and Upper East and the Northern Region more than any other person. And indeed if we are to talk about the potential of pulling northern diasporan votes Hon. Ambrose Dery tops them all.

He has a very solid party ground networking in Techiman, Obuasi, indeed let’s just say Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, and Western regions inter-alia where many Ghanaians of northern descent have settled.

Besides Ambrose Dery which other candidate has established party networks outside his own region? The evidence is clear for us all to see. We can decide to ignore them but if we want to win the 2012 elections with ease, then it has to be Ambrose Dery but not any other person. That is not to say without Ambrose Dery the NPP cannot win 2012 elections. But can we say that if Nana happens to pick some of the persons who are being mentioned who the whole wide world knows that they cannot even win the votes of their household for Nana can we say that Nana can comfortably win the 2012 elections? Definitely NO!

Those who are throwing their weight behind Bawumia, talking about the likes of Mr. Ben Ephson, and others are just plotting the painful defeat of the New Patriotic Party in 2012.

Coming to Mr. Ephson, it’s true that he has established himself as a Political Pollster in the Ghanaian political panorama for some time now earning a reputation for himself.

Indeed Mr. Ephson is creating a new chapter for political party campaign and electioneering activities in Ghana.

In the developed world more often than not many politicians rely on predictions or opinion polls to shape the direction of their campaigns because many at times the pre-election polls often come to pass.

Back here in Ghana on some few occasions Mr. Ephson’s predictions have come true. For example he predicted a second run-off in the 2008 Presidential Elections and it came to pass. But let’s not also forget that he predicted that Allan Kyeremanteng was going to win the NPP’s primaries on the two occasions in which it turned out to be wrong predictions. Can one therefore say that Mr. Ephson has always gotten it wrong with his predictions on the NPP?

Even if those of his poll predictions which came to pass were mere coincidence yet we need to give him credit for the benefit of the doubt.

The issue of a running mate for Nana Akufo Addo is very delicate and very relevant since the caliber of candidate chosen would influence the electoral success of the New Patriotic Party in the 2012 general elections.

As a product of political science I want to believe that Mr. Ephson’s polls are not always based on mere public rhetoric or rumours but based on scientific research following the proper research procedures.

Therefore, if Mr. Ephson’s predictions are always based on scientific procedures he needs to come clear and let the people see and understand the basis of his prediction.

Mr. Ephson and the like think that Bawumia was not the cause of the defeat of the NPP in the 2008 Elections. That might be true, but there is evidence on the ground to suggest that he did not pull enough votes even from his own home town/Polling station. Has Mr. Ephson found out why?

I want to categorically state that this time around Mr. Epson and his companions are getting it wrong. Why? We have done our own research and have come out with some indicators which point to Hon. Ambrose Dery rather than Dr. Bawumia no matter how the research is replicated using the same indicators. We believe Nana Akufo Addo must use these indicators to score all the potential candidates as running mate to him in 2012 if the NPP really wants victory in 2012.

Our research did not necessarily throw its weight behind Hon. Ambrose Dery by mere propaganda. The only thing we emphasized was a Northerner be he/she a Moslem or a Christian.

Therefore names such as Boniface Abubakari, Mustapha Ali, Dr. Bawumia, Hon. Ambrose Dery and so on were automatically run through our indicators for a running mate and we scientifically found out that one person tops them all based on this criterion. This candidate- Hon. Ambrose Dery is the credible candidate that can actually partner Nana Akufo Addo to capture political power in 2012.

Nana must not be deceived by mere prediction or propaganda without basis. The fact that the NPP lost the elections in 2012 by a margin of 40,000 votes as Ephson wants the world to believe makes Dr. Bawumia a marketable candidate is neither here nor there.

The conditions or antecedents for those results in 2008 are not the same today. Don’t forget that by then the NPP was even in power and had incumbency at its disposal.

The internal wrangling in the NDC is not an indicator that they will easily lose power in 2012 and for that matter Bawumia who was Running Mate is 2008 is already marketed. Have Mr. Ephson and his companions really done a thorough research into the abysmal performance of Bawumia in his own hometown? That is not to say we are against Bawumia, what we are against is mere prediction that could be suicidal for Nana and the NPP in 2012 which some of us think will defeat the “All Die Be Die” principle.

If the NPP wants to recapture political power, then Nana must not be deceived into believing that Bawumia is already marketed. We urge Nana to subject all the names mentioned through our performance indicators of which the head of his research team has a copy and see the one that will top them all.

Dondome Isang. S Maalisuo Spokesman for United Northern Youth For a Northerner Running Mate to Nana Akufo Addo in 2012

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