Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has secured the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearership, positioning himself to lead the party into the 2028 general elections after emerging victorious in a competitive internal race.

The former Vice President defeated four contenders: Dr Bryan Acheampong, Ing Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, and Kennedy Agyapong, to clinch the mandate from party delegates.

Former Assin Central Member of Parliament (MP) Kennedy Agyapong, widely considered the biggest threat heading into the contest, came second, with former Food and Agriculture Minister Dr Bryan Acheampong coming in third after voting and collation.

Dr Bawumia took to Facebook to thank party members and delegates for their confidence.

“To members of our great party, thank you,” he wrote on Saturday, January 31, 2026.

His post was accompanied by the hashtags #WinWithBawumia and #Bawumia2028, signalling the immediate shift from internal competition to general election readiness. The slogans are expected to anchor his campaign messaging, unify party supporters, and project an early start to the NPP’s bid to regain power in 2028.

With the primaries concluded, attention now shifts to consolidating party ranks and rallying nationwide support behind a flagbearer well known to Ghanaian voters but confronted with significant political and economic headwinds.

Dr Bawumia faces the task of recovering from the NPP’s 2024 electoral defeat and leading efforts to restore the party to power in 2028. That loss came as the party attempted to break Ghana’s longstanding eight-year, two-term political cycle.

Critics attributed the setback largely to concerns over his stewardship of the economy as head of President Nana Akufo-Addo’s Economic Management Team (EMT). Their tenure was marked by severe economic difficulties, including a sharply depreciating cedi, high inflation, and rising cost-of-living pressures - factors widely cited as contributing to voter dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile, the NPP’s main opposition, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), has yet to decide on a flagbearer. Reports indicate that the contest could chiefly emerge between party Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia and Chief of Staff Julius Debrah when times comes for the NDC's own selection process.