A new survey assessing political party preferences for the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) next presidential candidate has revealed a strong internal lead for former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, while his closest rival, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, enjoys greater support among opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters.
According to the data gathered by research agency Africa Policy Lens, 70.6% of NPP-aligned respondents would choose Dr. Bawumia as the party’s next flagbearer, compared to 21.4% who favoured Kennedy Agyapong, the former MP for Assin Central.
However, the dynamic shifts significantly among NDC supporters as Kennedy Agyapong leads among NDC-affiliated respondents with 48.4% support, while Dr. Bawumia trails at 35.3%. This suggests Agyapong may be seen more favourably by political opponents than Bawumia.
Support for other potential candidates within the NPP remains marginal across all party affiliations:
Kyei Mensah Bonsu received just 1.0% support from NPP respondents and 2.8% from NDC respondents.
Boakye Kyeremateng Agyarko polled at 2.3% within the NPP and 2.5% from the NDC.
Kwabena Agyei Agyapong garnered 2.5% from NPP supporters and 2.4% from the NDC.
Bryan Acheampong recorded the lowest support at 0.6% from NPP respondents and 0.3% from NDC voters.
The undecided share was 1.6% among NPP respondents, compared to a higher 8.0% among NDC supporters, suggesting greater uncertainty or disinterest in the NPP’s internal race among the opposition base.
But Dr Eric Boachie Yiadom, a fellow at the Africa Policy Lens, said new field data collected in late May shows that voter preferences for potential NPP flagbearer candidates remain largely unchanged since February.
“Last week in May we went back to the field to find whether our base research which was in February has changed much. So we went back and we realised that things haven’t changed much and I should also mention that this research work is continuously updated and we will be bringing the latest one.
“But an insight into it from our last week in May field work that we did shows that the sentiments that we have in February have not changed much and that people still hold firm to the factors influencing their decisions as it stands today,” he stated.
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