He said 32 contenders including himself successfully filed their nominations to present themselves to the regional executive conference later this month were subjected to rigorous vetting to test their competence however, no candidate was unopposed.

Alhaji Bagaya, who is vying for the regional secretary position, in an interview with Ghanaian Times, noted that votes in the region declined in percentage in the 2020 elections as the party managed just 34.4 per cent, against the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC’s) 63.3 per cent; an issue that has attracted the chagrin of members, supporters, sympathisers, well-wishers andfaithful of the party.

“We are not saying the current leadership in the region has failed, what we are saying is, the party needs improvement so we need a stronger, formidable and well-focused team to help appreciate our votes in subsequent elections because we learned a big lesson in the last elections,” he indicated.

Filson Apambila Awankua, a chairman hopeful, touted that he was upbeat about victory at the upcoming election, but expressed disgust over the continuously dwindling electoral fortunes of the party in previous elections and attributed it to lack of visionary leadership in the region, radical leadership style to create strong holds in some of the constituencies and was capable of doing that.

He chided the current executives for recording the worst performance ever in the history of democratic elections in 2020, and wooed delegates to reject them outrightly at the polls to pave way for visionary and selfless leaders who were committed, dedicated and determined to the cause of NPP to revitalise its hopes in subsequent polls to break the dominance of NDC in the 2024 polls.

“We know the region is a stronghold of the NDC, but with radical and strategically positioned leadership, we can also create strongholds for the NPP in some constituencies by working harder to make our party attractive to the rank and file, electorates, and floating and first time voters,” Mr Awankua assured.