The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has disclosed it is considering a review of its 30 per cent vote target in the Volta Region, the stronghold of its main competitor, the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), in the December polls.

It follows what the party says is the rousing welcome given to its flag bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, who, on Monday October 24, began a five-day campaign tour of the region which has, since the advent of multi-party democracy in 1992, voted massively for the NDC in all six presidential elections held.

Speaking to Class News on the party’s progress in the region, Mr Pius Hadzide, the presidential campaign aide to Nana Akufo-Addo, said the foundations of the NDC in the region had been shaken by the NPP.

“...You cannot describe the Volta Region as the stronghold of the NDC; that would be misleading. It will be an outright lie. I, myself, was a parliamentary candidate in 2012. I have never seen the kind of reception and warm welcome and show of comradeship and solidarity with the message of change that the people of the Volta Region are showing to us today. I keep asking myself: ‘Are we back in the Ashanti Region or Eastern Region or Central Region? Is this the Volta Region? I can assure you that the air of change that is blowing very well also in the Volta Region and we may even need to revise our projection of 30 per cent of the popular vote and three per cent of parliamentary seats. We may need to revise those targets,” he stated.

In a swift response, the NDC said the intent of the NPP was laughable.

The Regional Youth Organiser of the NDC, Egypt Kudoto, told Class News: “If the likes of Pius do not narrate these kinds of stories, I’m sure they will not get funding from the Accra office of the party. So they have to excite their bosses in Accra and get funding so that they can sit in their party office in Ho, share Kalyppo, and run around and tell the whole world stories that never exist. What is so special about their candidate, what is so attractive about their candidate, so exciting about their candidate and their message that the people of Volta will want to abandon this great son of Ghana, President John Mahama, and the transformation he is bringing to the Volta Region and follow promises? When the people of the Volta Region are experiencing change, transformation, good times, exciting moments in all sectors of our lives and you are promising something that we are already experiencing, why do I throw away a bird in hand and hunt for two in the forest that Nana Akufo-Addo is promising?”