The Western Regional Chairman of the Peoples National Convention (PNC,) Mallam Yakubu Tayeru, has endorsed Dr.Mahamudu Bawumia, the Flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) as the best candidate to lead Ghana.
According to him, his decision to endorse Bawumia does not reflect the collective views of the PNC Executives nor the party in the region.
Checks made by the paper indicate that the PNC Executives in the region have not collectively made any endorsement of a particular candidate.
The party is to hold a National Executives Meeting (NEC) this week, Wednesday, to take a decision on which of the presidential candidates to align with, going into the December 7 election.
The Regional PNC chairman has, however, decided to personally endorse Dr Bawumia even before the NEC meeting is held.
“This is my personal view and decision to endorse Dr Mahamadu Bawumia as the best of the candidates vying for the presidential race”.
Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle in Takoradi, Mallam Yakubu Tayeru defended his decision to endorse Dr Bawumia even though the party is yet to come out.
According to him, ‘As a Ghanaian I have the right and opinion to choose a candidate of my choice and Bawumia is my candidate”.
He said, given that the PNC was not contesting the December 7 presidential election, choosing Dr Bawumia as a candidate to endorse and support was surely the right thing to do.
He said as a Northerner himself, John Mahama and Hassan Ayariga, are his brothers, but Dr Bawumia’s personality stood tall amongst the two.
Defending why he decided to settle with Dr Bawumia, the PNC Chairman indicated that, John Mahama has had the opportunity to serve as president before and his records in terms of governance are known to every Ghanaian.
To him, the refusal of Ghanaians not to give him (Mahama) a second chance tells a lot.
Dr Mahamadu Bawumia on the other hand had not been given the opportunity to serve as a President.
So it was just right that he be given the opportunity by way of endorsement and votes to enable him (Bawumia) serve as a president.
The records of Dr Bawumia as vice president, the Western Regional PNC Chairman told this paper, could not be compared to that of John Mahama as president.
This is because Dr Bawumia has not had the opportunity to serve as a president. It is as a result of this that he has appealed to Ghanaians to support him as a president.
“If Bawumia becomes president then we can compare his achievements as president to Mahama”, he said.
Even serving as a vice president, Mallam Yakubu Tyeru said Dr Bawumia had helped the Akufo-Addo government to achieve a lot.
He specifically mentioned the Free Senior High School (FSHS) as a good social intervention that has come to help many vulnerable parents who could hitherto not afford Senior High school education for their wards.
Mallam Tayeru, however, expressed the fear that the NDC might cancel the FSHS should they win the elections. This is one of the reasons he has decided to endorse and vote for Bawumia as a candidate to continue with the FSHS policy.
