Wa, Sept. 1, GNA - Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, running mate to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Thursday said he accepted the offer because of the vision of the flagberear to narrow the development gap between the south and the north.

Nana Akufo-Addo, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Bawumia said, has the vision to modernise agriculture, improve education, health and water systems to make the north the food basket of the country to reduce poverty and youth migration. Dr Bawumia, who said this during a courtesy call on the Wa Chief Imam, Issahaku Yakubu, therefore, urged northerners to vote massively for the NPP in the December election to realise the vision. The visit was part of a two-day tour of the Upper West Region to introduce himself to the chiefs and the people to seek for their blessings and support. He said the idea to narrow the development gap between the South and the North had been a vision the pioneers of northern politics fought for and added "this is the vision I try to accomplish". Dr Bawumia announced that the flagbearer of the NPP had pledged one billion dollars for the Northern Development Fund to cater for the development needs of the North and that was something nobody had done before.

He said Nana Akufo-Addo had again promised to make Senior High School education free and urged the people in the north not to doubt because NPP was a party that believed in deliverance. Dr Bawumia said it was the aim of the party to provide employable skills in other for the youth to create jobs for themselves. The NPP running mate assured Ghanaians that he would not be a Vice President for a group of people but for all, the needs, interests, and aspirations of the people would be what he would work for. Dr Bawumia said his selection was destined by God and called on Ghanaians to keep on praying for him and the NPP to win the election. Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, National Campaign Manager of the NPP said the selection of Dr Bawumia was to promote national and religious unity in the country. He said the NPP tradition had persistently kept faith with people from the North and noted that four presidential candidates of the NPP tradition, who hailed from the south, had each selected a northern politician to partner them. The Chief Imam Yakubu appealed to leaders of political parties to prevail on their supporters to give peace a chance in the December 7, 2008 election by avoiding acts that could start confusion. 1 Sept. 08