Prof Kingsley Nyarko, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso, has asked NPP members why they are blaming the party’s defeat on Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, when the party could not maintain its 138 seats in parliament.
The lawmaker asserted that he does not understand why people blame the party’s defeat in the 2024 election on Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
He emphasised that it is irrational to blame the defeat solely on Bawumia, as the party had 138 parliamentarians across the 276 constituencies but could not maintain its seat in the 2024 general election.
According to him, if the NPP had won more seats or maintained their seat with Dr Bawumia losing, he would have sided with those accusing the former vice president of the party’s defeat.
Speaking during Dr Bawumia’s Ashanti Region tour, Prof Kingsley Nyarko stated, “I don’t really understand when I hear people blame the NPP 2024 loss on Dr Bawumia. What if we had won? What would those people say? Wouldn’t these same people be crediting themselves if the party had won? Were they not part of the campaign? Why blame it on Dr. Bawumia?”.
He further detailed, “Before the elections, we had 138 parliamentarians across the 276 constituencies in Ghana. If we had won more seats or maintained the 138 seats for Dr Bawumia to lose, then I would side with those blaming the defeat on him. Now the 138 has reduced to 87.
Why do you make such an argument that Dr. Bawumia is the cause of our defeat? It doesn’t make any sense to me. If the majority of MPs reduced to 88, now 87, for one man to gain almost 42 per cent, why do you blame him for the defeat? It doesn’t make sense”, Prof Nyarko explained.
Prof Nyarko further declared his support for Dr Bawumia’s flagbearer bid, “Dr. Bawumia, we are behind you. I, Kingsley Nyarko, I am by your side and I will support you till your leadership, and I know God will surely honour Dr Bawumia”.
“Dr Bawumia, we will not change him… he’ll be our flagbearer into the 2028 elections. Let’s support our party in good faith. It’s not normal to speak against our own party in a negative manner; anyone who does that is not a good party member”, he concluded, urging party members to unite behind Dr Bawumia.
Meanwhile, Former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has rejected claims that the party’s electoral loss was due to his religion or ethnicity.
According to Bawumia, he told former president Akufo-Addo he would not run again if Prof Mike Ocquaye’s report attributed the party’s defeat to me.
Dr Bawumia stressed that if the report had held him responsible for the defeat, he would have prioritised the party’s interests over his personal ambitions.
Speaking to delegates at Abuakwa on Saturday, September 13, 2025, Dr. Bawumia detailed, “Before Ocquaye report came out, I had a meeting with Akufo-Addo and others. We were having a discussion about reasons on why we lost the 2024 election.
“I told Akufo-Addo that if the findings of the Ocquaye report indicate that because I’m a Muslim or because or I’m a Mamprusi-Kusasi, we lost the election, I will step down and not contest anymore. This is what I told Akufo-Addo. Because I will not choose my interest over the party’s interest. The party’s interest must always be ahead of me.
“I told Akufo-Addo that because of the party, I will sacrifice any ambition including the fact that if I contest, we will lose. But when the Ocquaye report, Ashanti report and Konrad Adenauer Foundation report came out, all of them pointed to the same conclusion – religion, tribe was not a factor in the 2024 election,” Dr. Bawumia added.
In a separate video, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said he cannot be blamed for the party’s poor performance in the Bawku zone in the 2024 elections.
The NPP during the 2024 election failed to secure a seat in any of the six constituencies.
Dr Bawumia argued that the NPP’s struggles in the Bawku enclave are historical,
He noted that the area has traditionally been a stronghold of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking to NPP party supporters at Effiduase in the Ashanti Region on Thursday, September 11, Dr Bawumia stated, “They claim we lost the 2024 elections because of the Mamprusi-Kusasi conflict. Those claims will not wash. They would have given me a knock-out if it’s true because I’m a Mamprusi. I was not even born when the conflict started”.
“Since 1965, there have been 11 elections in Ghana, in the Bawku zone, which has six constituencies. The NPP has won only two seats, being the highest. In most of the elections, we had zero seats in six of the 11 elections,” Bawumia explained.
Dr Bawumia further recalled, “In 2004, former president J. A. Kufuor won the election, but the NPP scored zero in the Bawku zone. In 2012, former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was the flagbearer, but we had zero seats in the Bawku zone. We were not part of the conflict.
In 2024, we had zero seats in the Bawku enclave. If you look at the trajectory, was I the cause? I can’t be blamed for our poor performance in the Bawku zone, which is an NDC stronghold,” he emphasised.