Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, a former Education Minister and New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer hopeful, has said he is the NPP’s best chance to win the 2028 election.
According to Dr Adutwum, the NPP does not need just a flagbearer but someone who can win the election in 2028.
Dr Adutwum also added that he deliberately prefers to be underestimated as part of his political strategy in the race for the NPP flagbearership.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, January 17, he stated, “I like to be an underdog. I like to be underestimated. So nobody gets to know what I’m doing”.
Dr Adutwum, “I present the NPP the best chance to win the 2028 elections. The delegates know what the people want, and they know who can win,”
“We don’t just want a flagbearer; we want someone who can actually win the 2028 elections,”
“The candidate must be someone who understands the problems of the country and has practical solutions,” Dr Adutwum noted.
Meanwhile, Samuel Atta Akyea, a former Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, has warned the New Patriotic Party (NPP) against presenting a new presidential candidate for the 2028 elections.
Atta Akyea reminded the New Patriotic Party of Dr Bawumia’s performance in the 2024 elections, which he noted was in a difficult political environment.
According to Atta Akyea, internal assessments revealed Dr Mahamudu Bawumia was not a factor in the defeat, but rather voter fatigue after eight years in government.
Atta Akyea claimed that the ruling NDC would face challenges introducing a new candidate against Dr Bawumia, who he said already enjoys strong national recognition and credibility.
The former Abuakwa South MP warned that abandoning Dr Bawumia to present a new candidate would be a gamble for the NPP.
Speaking on Metro TV on Thursday, January 15, 2026, Atta Akyea explained, “I am trying to show the arithmetic that when the situation was terribly bad, the persona of the man attracted him the 41 per cent that he got in the election. Common sense will suggest that we show him again,” he said.
“We have to lift him up again and then add about nine per cent to cross the 50 plus one mark. That is how we get him as president,” he stated.
“By the time the NDC brings a new candidate against Bawumia, who is already marketed and whose figures are in his favour, I am telling you there is nobody they will bring who will have the national appeal and the doctoral appeal more than Bawumia,” he added.
He added, “If we decide to start afresh with new people and allow the NDC to use propaganda against them, that will be a lottery the NPP should not get involved in”.