Former Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has blamed the party’s defeat in the 2024 general elections on voter apathy among its supporters.
Speaking during the NPP’s “Thank You” tour on Wednesday, April 23, at the party’s headquarters in Accra, Dr. Bawumia revealed that approximately 2.1 million NPP supporters failed to vote, an absence he believes critically impacted the party’s performance at the polls.
“Despite our hard work, we suffered a heavy defeat. But when you analyze the numbers, it’s clear the problem came from within. Compared to 2020, over two million of our supporters didn’t vote. That, fundamentally, is why we lost,” he said.
Dr. Bawumia said that future victories depend on re-energizing the party’s base.
“The power to win lies within us. If we show up, we win.”
The December 7 presidential election was a tightly contested race between Dr. Bawumia and former President John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
On December 9, the Electoral Commission declared Mahama the winner with 6,328,397 votes (56.55%), defeating Bawumia, who secured 4,657,304 votes (41.61%).
Mahama’s victory also brought a parliamentary majority for the NDC, marking a strong comeback and consolidating their control across both the executive and legislative arms of government.