According to the group, it was a bad idea for the former President to return to the frontlines of politics after giving a sterling performance as President and leaving an exemplary legacy for himself and the party.

“We all know that it was lies and dirty politics that won the 2016 election. Now that the NPP is in power, Ghanaians are contrasting and finding out for themselves the shining leadership that President Mahama brought to the Presidency.

 It is our humble opinion that President Mahama risks hurting this impeccable legacy if he runs again, ”Mr Sulleman Abubakar Bayeta, General Secretary of NAFBEG, said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

He pointed out that President Mahama has been the most successful Northern President ever and, “as Northerners we owe it to ourselves to protect his shining legacy, and this is why we will urge him not to risk that legacy by returning to campaigns. He is a dignified statesman and we are proud of his legacy as Northerners.”

Mr Bayeta said 2020 was going to once more, be a battle between lies and truth and since the NPP even in opposition could use every trick in the book to win power, it cannot be ruled out that they can still win 2020 election ‘by all means.’

He said the NPP would also not hesitate to come up with allegations about former President Mahama during the campaign just to mar him because of his quest for the Presidency.

“Imagine the kind of blow that will hit the legacy of President Mahama if he runs again and loses in 2020,” Mr. Bayeta said.

President Mahama has kept the whole of the NDC in suspense as he remained silence on the possibility of the running for President again in 2020

In the aftermath of the 2016 elections, which the NDC lost, the former President’s family came out to declare that he would not run for President again. However, the former President’s body language has since been giving off a different vibe.

Mr Bayeta pointed out that the former President has already had the maximum eight years at the Presidency, having served the first three and a half years as Vice President and the remaining four and a half years as President.

“This point is concurred by some staunch supporters of the former President during the 2016 election, including Hiplife singer, MzBel who had pleaded with the former President not to run again and was subsequently attacked by NPP supporters after President Mahama’s loss at the polls in 2016.

NAFBEG said it would be in the supreme interest of former President Mahama to make way now by leaving when the applause was loudest.

“If President Mahama even goes and wins, imagine the background manoeuvrings that will be going on during his Presidency, his appointees who will be interested in succeeding him will not even be able to concentrate and work. “

This will not be healthy.”