Ephson cuts NPP celebrations short; don't gloat in age similarities

Pollster Ben Ephson has said drawing age parallels between three-time flagbearer of Ghana’s main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and President-elect of Nigeria, Gen Mahammudu Buhari, will not shore up the NPP’s electoral fortunes in the 2016 elections.

Nana Akufo-Addo turned 71 on March 29, 2015 and will be 72 by next year ahead of the December general elections–the same age as Buhari, who recently beat his younger opponent and incumbent Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, 57, whose Ghanaian contemporary John Mahama turns 58 before his country’s next election.

The two younger Presidents – Mahama and Jonathan are the incumbents and their two main rivals – Akufo-Addo and Buhari are the main contenders from the opposition side.

Supporters of the opposition NPP have been riding on the similarities to predict victory for Mr Akufo-Addo who has failed on two attempts to annex the presidency.

Already, General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia has laughed off the basis for the victory predictions for the NPP and Mr. Akufo-Addo, describing it as dabbling in a lottery.

Pouring more water on the predictions based on the age parallels is Mr. Ephson, who told Starr 103.5 FM that gloating in the age factor will amount to nothing.

“If they gloat in that, they should ask whether the age of Buhari was a factor; it wasn’t…I’ve done quite a bit of research in the past 20 years. The age of a candidate or the health of a candidate has never been a factor.”