Bawumia conceding defeat early was dangerous – NDC’s Mustapha Gbande

Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has taken a swipe at Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2024 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), for conceding defeat before the Electoral Commission (EC) officially declared the results of the general election.

Dr. Bawumia publicly congratulated then-NDC flagbearer, now President John Dramani Mahama, before the EC made the formal announcement of the outcome. The move was widely seen as a gesture of goodwill, but Gbande disagrees.

Appearing on Face to Face on Channel One TV with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Tuesday, July 8, Gbande described Bawumia’s early concession as “populist and dangerous,” insisting it was premature and undermined the authority of the EC.

“The day of declaration, right from the time Dr Bawumia made that pre-conceived defeat, needless because if you’ve lost an election, you wait for the Electoral Commission to declare, he made himself the Electoral Commission to come and declare a defeat for himself,” he said.

Gbande explained that in his view, a concession should only come after the EC has officially declared the results.

“Concession is not when you come and pronounce that you have been defeated. A concession is when a figure is declared, you disagree, but you concede,” he said.

He also dismissed claims that Bawumia’s early concession helped maintain national peace and stability, arguing that the situation in the country at the time did not call for such a move.

“They said because they believed that without him conceding the country was to be chaotic. Nothing was going to happen in the country. And the temperature was absolutely normal. Everybody was happy that the NPP had lost,” he remarked.

Gbande further described Bawumia’s action as politically motivated, suggesting it was more about seeking public praise than respecting due process.

“I think that it [conceding] was dangerous, because he created an impression that he had lost. By law, he was not the one to declare an election. It’s sloganeering and populist when you rush to do what you have not been sanctioned to do. Or what you needed not to have done and want to receive praise for it. The EC should be allowed to do its work,” he added.

Dr. Bawumia’s concession drew mixed reactions at the time, with some lauding it as a show of maturity and leadership, while others, like Gbande, criticised it as undermining the electoral process.