‘Mahama will win if he contests NDC flagbearer race’ – Ephson declares

Renowned pollster, Ben Ephson, has disclosed former president, John Dramani Mahama will win the flagbearer race of the opposition National Democratic congress (NDC) if he contests.

“If he contests, he will win,” he told host of the Morning Xpress on Radio XYZ , Neil Armstrong Mortagbe on Monday.

Mr Ephson noted that “assuming that he (Mahama) wins, he will have the advantage of people judging what he did and what the current government is doing.”

However, the pollster stated if Mr Mahama is elected to lead the NDC, he will have a disadvantage of people judging him of “fracturing the party” under his stewardship.

Mr Ephson believes the Mahama administration did little to empower the NDC executives, particularly those at the regional and constituency levels.

The editor of the Daily dispatch newspaper, who came under a barrage of criticisims in 2017 after tipping then President John Mahama of winning the 2016 elections, this time around, observed that in the run up to the 2016 polls under Mahama as the president, many of NDC executives were sidelined and resources were not shared to the various constituencies hence Mr Mahama’s attempt to “mend fences” with the Unity walk.

““I must be frank. there was no synergy between the government and the party…One of the things I know for a fact is that He is trying to mend fences with people,” he clarified.

The pollster said in 2016 there was “no planning” that sought to blend the government and the party, especially when the president’s team imposed things on the regional and constituency executives during the campaign season.

To him, there are hurdles the former present will have to scale in quest to have all executives who felt sidelined when he was the president welcome him.

This, he observed, is the reason Mr Mahama is dabbling in the Unity Walk activities that seeks to unify the party at the grassroots level.

according to him, John Mahama has taken the opportunity to “try and explain and try to let them (sidelined executives) come on board” and support his candidature.

Former Trades Minister Ekow Spio Garbrah; former National Health Insurance authority CEO, Sylvester Mensah; Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament,Alban Bagbin; Professor Joshua Alabi, and Stephen Atubiga, a member of the NDC national Communications team have all declared their intentions to join the flagbearer race.