The second deputy Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin is optimistic he will beat former President John Mahama in the race for the next flagbearer for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The MP for Nadowli-Kaleo believes he possesses traits which outshine the former president and will floor him if the latter decides to make a comeback.

“He knows my capacity and has worked with me for many years as a minority leader and later as a minister of state,” the former Majority Leader in Parliament told GHOne TV’s Nana Aba Anamoah on State of Affairs.

According to him, Mahama’s leadership style led to his defeat as the first sitting president under the Fourth Republic to have lost a general election. The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo won the 2016 election with a margin of about 800, 000 votes.

Bagbin stressed Mahama could have won the elections if he had paid heed to advice, adding he left the party behind despite his performance.

“So I know he’s a very nice person to deal with, he has the gift of the tongue, high accumulation of knowledge and the energy and vim, but it is the style of leadership that has left a lot of the people behind.

“The issue about lack of inclusiveness is very detrimental trait in political leadership. I think John [Mahama] would have been a very good president in a better democratic setting than Ghana. He did very well in terms of infrastructure and focused a lot on putting the basics in place. In trying to do this I think he outrun the party and left the party behind. His leadership style led to this,” the longest-serving MP in Ghana’s parliament opined.

Bagbin noted he is qualified to lead the NDC to recapture power.

“I’m grateful to the NDC as a party to be in leadership. I did all I could to help Mahama to succeed,” the legislator averred.