Tamale, May 2, GNA - A group calling itself "Friends of the NPP" in the Tamale Metropolis, has appealed to Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, NPP Presidential candidate, to consider nominating Alhaji Saddique Abubakar Boniface as running-mate to win the December general election. The group said Alhaji Boniface had the charisma, the enigma and was down to earth; attributes, which could help the NPP win more floating voters and even from the NDC particularly, from the Northern Region where divisions were sharp for the crucial December polls. The appeal was contained in a statement issued in Tamale on Friday and signed by the group's President, Mr. Seidu Bakari. The group indicated that if Alhaji Boniface was chosen to partner the flagbearer, then there would be a fierce competition between Nana Akufo-Addo and Professor John Evans Atta Mills for the southern votes while Alhaji Boniface could wrest majority of the northern votes from Mr. John Mahama, the NDC's Vice-Presidential nominee.

The statement said Alhaji Boniface won the hearts of every one in the Northern Region when he was the Northern Regional Minister and the role he played for the successful burial of the late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II and the installation of his regent. It said: "If the NDC has found in Mr. John Dramani Mahama someone who commands attraction and has good human relations, in Boniface the NPP too has a very humble personality who combines the qualities in Mr. John Mahama and acceptability across the political divide even in the Northern Region where divisions are very sharp." "Fortunately too, Alhaji Boniface has a Muslim background unblemished public office performance and an aura that is very difficult to resist," it said.

The statement noted that Alhaji Boniface was a young man that destiny had brought unto the country's political scene adding that even at his age, he had held three Ministerial portfolios successfully and could do better as a running-mate. According to the statement, when as the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing Alhaji Boniface embarked on a recent tour of the Northern Region to assess the water situation he was mobbed by people across the political divide. "All the places Alhaji Boniface visited from Gushiegu to Karaga, Yendi to Bimbilla, Buipe to Damongo and Walewale to Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo the people hailed and adored him", it said.