President John Mahama, “the worst performing president in the fourth republic”, has failed northerners of Ghana, vice-presidential candidate of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said.

Speaking to party supporters in Kaleo in the Nadowli-Kaleo Constituency of the Upper West Region, Dr Bawumia said Mr Mahama and the governing National Democratic Congress’ appeal to northerners to retain him in office for a second and final four-year term because he is also a northerner, was untenable.

“President John Mahama tells us that he is our northern brother; that he is our northern son, and, so, we should vote for him. He told us this in 2012 and he is back in the Upper West Region and he is spreading the same message that he is our northern president. But we have a northern president who presides over the looting of funds meant for the development of the north. We have a northern president who presides over the lack of feeding grants for senior high schools in the north. We have a northern president who is cancelling teacher and nurse training allowances and we have a northern president who is presiding over so much corruption in this country.

“So you can just not tell me that simply because you are a northerner, I should keep you in office to continue to make me suffer. We will not suffer just to keep President John Mahama in office. We want someone to come to office to solve our problems, not somebody who sits in office and says: ‘I am a northern president, so: ‘I am going to let them steal your SADA money, cancel your teacher and nurse training allowances, collapse the National Health Insurance Scheme and not provide any services for your socio-economic advancement’. That is not the type of northern president we want.

“We want a president of vision, integrity and a president who is honest and a president who will get up and do the work for all the people of Ghana including the people from the three northern regions.

“I will rather have a president who advances the interest of the people of the north, I will rather have a president who does things that put us forward, and that is why we are asking for change.

“Yes John Mahama is our brother but he has failed us completely. In fact northerners never used to be known as corrupt people. We were always poor but we had integrity, we had honesty and we could never be pointed at as being corrupt. Today we are being pointed at; that brand is being tarnished by President John Mahama who by the way is the worst performing President in the history of the 4th Republic, you can look at the economic data”, Dr Bawumia said.