Flagbearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Dramani Mahama has declared that the internal competition for the flagbearer position is over.

The former president who polled 297,603 votes representing 98.9% of the total valid votes cast in the recently ended NDC primaries, in his acceptance speech delivered at the University of Development Studies (UDS) on Monday, 15 May 2023, told the delegates “you have chosen experience with vision, over experiments, and I am confident that in December 2024, Ghanaians will make that choice that puts us back on the path of building the Ghana we want together.”

He advised the NDC supporters to flip the coin from competition to cooperation adding “we need cooperation to build a better Ghana and a better NDC. I am, therefore, calling for cooperation among all elected parliamentary candidates and your aspirants and supporters.”

Mr Mahama noted that incumbent Members of Parliament who lost their primaries must also keep their heads up as they remain heroes for the good job they have done, and continue to do, for the party and country.

“We need your experience and talents for the onerous job that faces us when the good people of Ghana give us a mandate to steer the affairs of this country once more.

Above all, we need you in the remaining one and half years of your Parliamentary mandate to carry out your duties with dedication and commitment to safeguard the interest of the Ghanaian people. I intend to meet with you as early as possible,” he added.

Mr Mahama indicated that the NDC party needs the incumbent MPs, and will continue to rely on them as the party seeks to win election 2024 and “change the destiny of the suffering people of Ghana.”

The former President emphasised and urged all NDC members to re-dedicate themselves and commit their energies and resources to work hard to win the 2024 elections.

“I assure you of my open-mindedness, my open-door policy, and my commitment to run a government based on merit and competence,” he promised.

“Let me reaffirm my unshaken commitment to offer the needed support to our Parliamentary Candidates and all constituencies to make certain that we secure a healthy majority in the next parliament. This means, we must conclude the outstanding parliamentary elections in earnest so that we can focus our resources on the campaign for the upcoming national elections,” he added.

Mr Mahama used the occasion to dissolve his campaign coordinating team – led by Professor Joshua Alabi and expressed his gratitude to his team for a job well done.