Former President John Dramani Mahama, if re-elected to lead the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) into the 2020 elections, will “mess up more” than he did in the 2016 polls, Joseph Bipoba Naabu, NDC Member of Parliament for Yunyoo, has said.

There have been calls on Mr Mahama from some NDC members and executives to return to lead the party in the 2020 polls after his defeat to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the 2016 election.

However, speaking to Class News’ parliamentary correspondent Ekow Annan, Mr Naabu noted that Mr Mahama was not the only person who could lead the NDC and questioned why he should be re-elected as flag bearer.

“He was the president and he went and contested with Nana Akufo-Addo and lost so miserably... Now, if President Mahama comes, what is he going to do? Is he the only person and why should it be him? I want to tell him categorically that if he comes, he will rather mess up more. And those people calling for him to come back were the people he appointed as ministers, people he made deputy ministers, they were the people who were chief executive officers of government institutions – they are the people calling him to come back,” the lawmaker stated.

According to him, the NDC’s defeat was self-inflicted, citing Mr Mahama’s appointments during his tenure as president as key to the party’s defeat.

“Even though it’s my party and I wish that we would have won the elections, it was because of our behaviour, and the president himself took things for granted, that was why we lost. He thought he was going to win hands down but rather he lost heavily and massively. I will say lack of competence and he also not having control, people were just telling him lies within the presidency.

“Take Omane Boamah for instance. What experience has he got in politics? If he goes to contest elections in the constituency where he comes from, can he win that election? But the former president was listening to such people and that is the problem with him. Those who were surrounding him were not telling him the truth,” he stated.