Elections 2020: NPP acclaims Nana Addo as its flagbearer

A statement signed by the General Secretary of the party, John Boadu explained that "Article 13 (2) (1) of the NPP Constitution provides for acclamation where there is a sole candidate for the presidency by the close of nominations. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was the sole candidate for the NPP presidential slot. But for the coronavirus pandemic, he would have been acclaimed before a national congress of the party," the statement said.

The statement explained that given the constraints of COVID-19 and the resulting restrictions on public gatherings, "the President will, in line with the resolution of the party’s National Council, be acclaimed before the National Council on Saturday".

It said after his acclamation, "the President shall, in consultation with the National Council, nominate his running mate for the 2020 General Election".

The statement said attendance to those meetings would strictly be by invitation and restricted to only members of the National Council and the NEC.

This would be the fourth time President Nana Addo would be contesting for the presidency.

On December 7, 2008, Presidential election, Nana Addo won the first round of voting with more than 49 percent of the vote, but could not take the requisite 50 percent plus one and subsequently lost it to the late, Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the NDC.

Nana Addo again represented the NPP on December 7, 2012, elections and lost to the NDC's John Mahama, who succeeded the presidency earlier that year after Mills’s unexpected death.