A leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Tema East, Francis Blebu, has called on delegates to elect former Minister of Trade, Ekwow Spio-Gabrah as the 2020 flagbearer of the party.
He said although some supporters of former President John Dramani still believed Mahama was the right person to return the party to power, the former Trade Minister, Mr. Gabrah has a better national appeal and wielded the kind of toughness that the NDC needed to face President Akufo-Addo in 2020.
“So far, the supporters of former President Mahama, who unfortunately have proven to be in the majority within the national leadership of the party, have managed to create the impression that the former President is the most popular among all the candidates vying for the 2020 Presidential ticket.
“This is doubtful, but let us for argument sake, say it is the fact; can we say the same about John Mahama on the national level? Now the question is, if Mahama is supposedly only popular in the NDC, but not in the rest of the country, and the NDC elects him as Flagbearer, what are we doing to ourselves?”
In a statement signed and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday, Mr Blebu said Dr. Ekwow Spio Gabrah was popular countrywide and would easily deliver Central Region, whose loss, contributed to the massive loss of the NDC in 2016.
He added that, the former Trade Minister also had many friends who were willing to contribute money to fund his presidential campaign should delegates of the NDC give him the nod.
“I am asking delegates to sit down and carefully analyse what they see before them and they will realise that anytime former President Mahama makes a comment, the NPP easily shoots it down using Mahama’s past of many allegations as reason to convince Ghanaians that he is not to be trusted.
“But then compare that to the reaction that comes up when Dr. Ekwow Spio Gabrah speaks, nobody responds because the NPP has nothing on him,” Mr. Blebu said.
He pointed out that the former Trade Minister’s composition of a song to the effect that President Akufo-Addo was a one term President had not been responded to by the NPP because the ruling party could not challenge him.
Mr Blebu advised Dr Spio-Gabrah not to fall for any other position apart from being at the helm of the party’s affairs.
He claimed that; “The former President has promised to make many of the Flagbearer aspirants of the NDC his Running Mate if they step down for him in the Presidential primary. In the specific case of the former Trade Minister, Mr. Mahama is said to be using a powerful man of God to try to influence him into stepping down.”
Mr. Blebu said Mr. Gabrah would be making a great mistake if he fell for it. “I want Spio Gabrah to know that where he has come in his journey so far, the Presidency of Ghana is not beyond him. Ghanaians need him to come and free them from the shackles of the NPP administration, “he said.
