New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has raised concerns about the party relying solely on parliamentary primary victories to determine candidates for the 2028 general elections.
He said the NPP plans to introduce a broader candidate-search process to identify individuals with the capacity to win parliamentary seats for the party, arguing that success in an internal primary does not necessarily guarantee victory in the general election.
Dr Bawumia said some aspirants could secure parliamentary nominations because of their financial strength or ability to mobilise delegates, but may struggle to win votes in the wider electorate.
“Some people can win parliamentary primaries because they have money, but they cannot win the election,” he said in a video sighted by Asaase News.
“If you leave it to them they will win the primary then you have lost the seat,” he added.
He said the proposed candidate-search exercise was already underway and would draw on multiple independent sources to assess potential candidates across constituencies.
“What we want to do is to really do a candidate search which we have started by the way, the work is going on and the candidate search is going on and we are going to have more than one candidate, set independent sources and we compare what they are saying,” Dr Bawumia said.
According to him, where the assessment identifies an individual considered capable of winning a particular constituency, the party would seek to persuade that person to contest.
“If we find out that this is the person who can win us the seat, we will persuade that person to become a candidate,” he said.
Dr Bawumia also disclosed that the NPP intends to organise its parliamentary primaries as early as possible to allow the party to complete its internal elections and devote sufficient time to preparations for the 2028 general election.
The proposed approach represents a shift from depending exclusively on constituency-level delegates to select parliamentary candidates, with the party seeking to combine the primary process with wider assessments of electoral viability.
The initiative comes as the NPP reorganises its structures following Dr Bawumia’s election as the party’s presidential candidate in January 2026.
At its National Delegates Conference in Kumasi on October 3, 2026, the party also approved constitutional amendments, including one restoring the flagbearer as the leader of the NPP ahead of the 2028 elections.
This angle makes the **primary-vs-general-election distinction** the central news point, rather than simply reporting the planned nationwide candidate search.
