Pollster Ben Ephson has predicted that the New Patriotic Party’s attempt to ‘break the 8’ has the potential to cause mayhem among the party’s faithful.
According to him, the party has a history of disagreement especially regarding elections; when they attempt electing a new flagbearer to succeed the outgoing president.
He noted that breaking the 8 is a good initiative however, the party must first put its house matters in order before proceeding to deal with external issues.
Speaking in the Twi parlance on Angel FM’s Anopa Bofo Morning Show, the pollster said that “break the 8 sounds good but NPP towards electing a new flagbearer has the potential to cause some disturbances among the party members”.
He explained that there were some disturbances among party members in 2007 when the NPP allowed for all 17 candidates to contest for the flagbearer position.
The Managing Director of the Daily Dispatch newspaper listed seven persons within the NPP who are eyeing the flagbearer position namely; Vice President Dr. Mahamoud Bawumia, Alan Kyeremanteng, Kennedy Agyepong, Boagye Agyarko, Joe Ghartey, Dr. Apreku and Dr. Afriyie Akoto.
He said that the seven candidates would hold mini congresses after which two would be evicted leaving five to proceed to the next stage.
Per his estimation, Dr. Bawumia, Alan Kyeremanteng, Joe Ghartey and Kennedy Agyepong would sail through while the remaining three would battle it out for the last slot.
“These seven candidates would have mini congresses so that the final show down will involve five people… They must have this fight without acrimony else they are going to give the NDC a weapon to attack them”.
However, Prophet Nigel Gaisie, in an interview with Kofi Adoma Nwanwani, stated that Kennedy Agyepong can never be president in Ghana, while a group called Active Ladies of NPP has tipped Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, as the best candidate to lead the New Patriotic Party to victory in the 2024 presidential elections.
The pollster further outlined some steps for the party to kowtow to in their attempt to break the 8.
“The first rule of breaking the 8 is to desist from insulting yourselves…The second rule is to elect a candidate who appeals most [to the delegates and the 30% of floating Ghanaian voters]”, he stressed.
While noting that President Akufo-Addo retained power in 2020 due to his flagship program, the Free SHS; he cautioned ex-President John Mahama not to think it would be easy to win in 2024 because the NPP has served two terms.