Authentic information reaching The Crusading GUIDE indicates that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) would on September 22, 2007, open nomination for its presidential flagbearership race and for real, the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has made up his mind to file his nomination in a bid to become the party’s presidential candidate for the 2008 elections.

The Crusading GUIDE has also gathered that the nomination would be opened for a period of two weeks and the filing fee has been pegged at ¢250,000,000 (or GH¢25,000).

Speaking to The Crusading GUIDE on the Veep’s intention to contest, an Executive Member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Greater Accra Region has noted that out of the almost 20 people jostling for the party’s flagbearership for the 2008 presidential elections,Vice President Aliu Mahama is the most credible, convincing and reliable person to vote for.

Mr. Boye Laryea, who holds a Regional Executive portfolio in the NPP, told The Crusading GUIDE that the Vice President is an excellent politician who has an enviable record which other rival parties can not challenge or condemn.

He noted further that the Vice President had displayed mature leadership, humility, and yet had proven to be a firm and fair leader with an uncommon human feeling and sympathy for mankind.

Boye Laryea said the Vice has a long term experience, is a loyal party member, a unifier who has no problem or perceived problem with any party member, and appeals to the majority of Ghanaians, and even people from rival parties.

He told this paper that “Alhaji Aliu is the man to beat when delegates of our party meet on December 22 this year to elect a presidential candidate. Though some of the other potential aspirants have something to offer, the Veep is the most experienced, most promising and the best out of the whole lot. He is a super quality material, has the cleanest record and has won the hearts of most of us”.

Explaining Aliu’s position for two terms, Boye Laryea said, “Aliu Mahama has the greatest Presidential experience and in this country, there is no child that cannot recognize him when they meet in the dark. We would have no problem at all marketing him. Look, he has acted several times as President of Ghana in the absence of President Kufuor and I tell you that experience alone is key. It cannot be bought or sold. It can only be acquired; and show me which of the other candidates has that quality”.

Boye Laryea rubbished the argument that though the Veep is a Northerner and a Moslem, his party keeps performing poorly in the Northern Regions and all the Zongo communities throughout the country.

He said ethnicity and religion are matters which should be kept out of contemporary politics as they have the potential of yielding adverse results.

“Think of it. If he the Northerner and Moslem cannot win the Northern Region for the NPP, how can a non-Northerner and a non-Moslem win them for the party?”, he asked.

He added, “The party’s records from 1992 show that our votes in the north and the zongos have been increasing steadily; and in politics, it takes time to take over your rival’s strong-hold. Gradually we are improving our performance there so that is a non-issue”.

When his attention was drawn to the fact that recent polls conducted by different organizations do not suggest Aliu Mahama was in the lead as far as the party’s flagbearership race was concerned, Boye Laryea said polls results do not always automatically translate into votes.

He continued that the congress was about three months away and that in politics even a day could make a major difference in election results.

The NPP top man noted further that the party had not yet chosen its delegates and that those interviewed in the said polls at best could not be potential delegates.

He said it is not the responsibility of the media to decide how the party should elect its flagbearer and questions should be raised about who conducts the polls, the methodology and how they are founded.

He said there was the possibility that when Aliu Mahama sponsors one of those polls, the result may favour him.

Showing an open support for the Vice President’s campaign, the Regional Executive said there are people in the NPP who make so much noise in the media about their loyalty and commitment to the NPP, yet what such people claim they had done for the party does not come near what Aliu Mahama had done and continues to do in the quiet.

“… ask Malik Alhasan or check from the party headquarters, when we were in the youth wing, Aliu was the person we took money and logistics from to run our campaign anytime we traveled to the north in 1992. It is a fact that Aliu Mahama in 1992, was the only person who single-handedly sponsored the NPP in the three Northern Regions. He was giving money, buying pickups and doing other things in the quiet. Aliu is not a new comer or an outsider and people who think he is a newcomer do not know what they are talking about”. Boye Laryea underscored.