The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has launched a nationwide search for potential parliamentary candidates as it intensifies preparations for the 2028 general elections.
The initiative was disclosed by the party’s presidential candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in Kumasi on Monday, October 4, 2026. He said the exercise would help identify people with the strongest chances of winning parliamentary seats, including individuals who had not secured a place through the party’s traditional internal primary process.
Dr Bawumia said the NPP was concerned that success in an internal contest did not always indicate an ability to win a general election. In particular, he argued that financial resources and popularity among party members were not sufficient guarantees of victory at the national poll.
“We are going to do a candidate search across all the constituencies, because some people can win parliamentary primaries because they have money, but they can’t win the general elections,” Dr Bawumia said.
He warned that relying exclusively on the outcome of internal primaries could cost the party parliamentary seats. A candidate might win the nomination but then be unable to defeat the opposition in the general election.
“If you leave it to them, they will win the primary, but you’ve lost the seat,” he said.
According to Dr Bawumia, the search is already in progress and will involve more than one independent assessment of possible candidates in constituencies across the country. The NPP will compare the findings from the different sources before deciding which individuals could strengthen its chances.
“Candidate search is going on and we’re going to have more than one candidate search from independent sources. And we’ll compare what they are saying,” he said.
The party will then approach people identified as having the best prospects of winning particular constituencies and encourage them to stand.
“Because if we find out that this is the person who can win us the seat, we’ll persuade that person to come on board and help us to win the seat,” he added.
The strategy places electoral competitiveness at the centre of the NPP’s plans for selecting parliamentary candidates ahead of the 2028 polls. The party hopes to protect the seats it currently holds while also targeting constituencies controlled by other parties.
Dr Bawumia also said the NPP wanted to complete its internal elections as early as possible, giving it more time to organise for the general election. The process will begin with elections in parliamentary constituencies and will involve discussions with sitting Members of Parliament.
“We are going to also be looking to try to have our parliamentary elections as soon as possible, so that NPP will be done with internal elections,” he said.
He added that the party would seek to maintain transparency throughout the internal election process.
