Former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Inusah Fuseini, has squarely blamed Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2024 flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), for the electoral disturbances that plagued several constituencies across the country, particularly Ablekuma North, following the December 7, 2024, general elections.

Speaking during a panel discussion on Channel One TV on Saturday, July 12, 2025, Fuseini argued that Dr. Bawumia’s premature concession of defeat shortly after polls closed sent the wrong signal to party agents and supporters, resulting in confusion and a breakdown of electoral processes in critical areas.

His remarks come in the aftermath of violent incidents during the Ablekuma North parliamentary rerun on Friday, July 11, 2025, where thugs physically assaulted former Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mavis Hawa Koomson, the NPP Deputy National Organiser, Chris Lloyd Nii Kwei Asamoah, and a journalist at a polling station.

According to the former Tamale Central legislator, Bawumia’s decision to concede before the Electoral Commission (EC) officially declared results undermined the integrity and purpose of the collation exercise, which was still ongoing in many constituencies.

“Their flagbearer for the 2024 election is the cause of the problems we are facing,” Fuseini said. “In Ghana, elections are held concurrently—both presidential and parliamentary on the same day. The EC has up to 72 hours to declare results. But what did Bawumia do? He conceded long before the Electoral Commission spoke. That rendered the activities at the collation centres meaningless.”

He further explained that the simultaneous nature of the collation process meant that an early concession in the presidential race discouraged party agents from continuing their oversight responsibilities for parliamentary results.

“People were simply waiting for the results. So when he conceded prematurely, those at Ablekuma who were still collating presidential results and holding parliamentary pink sheets saw no point in continuing, since their party had already lost the election,” he added.

Fuseini warned that Bawumia’s action set a dangerous precedent that disrupted the country’s traditionally orderly electoral process, contributing to the widespread confusion and incomplete collation records witnessed across the country.

“Have you ever heard of this happening in Ghana before?” he asked. “It’s because of his [Bawumia’s] action. Go back and unpack it, and you’ll see the danger in that early concession.”

Bawumia’s early concession has caused all this chaos! — Let me explain to you…

— Inusah Fuseini, Former MP for Tamale Central

Watch the full discussion here: https://t.co/1D4cFer8Wv
#TheBigIssue with @SelormAdonoo pic.twitter.com/JkwLv01Irw

— CITI FM 97.3 (@Citi973) July 12, 2025