The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has disclosed that members of his campaign team opposed his decision to concede defeat in the December 7 election.

Dr. Bawumia conceded defeat on December 8, just hours after the vote counting began.

The following day, the Electoral Commission declared John Dramani Mahama the winner, with 6,328,397 votes, representing 56.55% of the valid votes cast.

Speaking to a gathering of party supporters at his residence on Thursday, December 26, Dr. Bawumia explained that his decision to concede early was driven by a commitment to preserving the peace and stability of Ghana.

“So, even though the Electoral Commission had not yet pronounced [the winner], in fact some of my people in my team were saying, you can’t go out to concede, we don’t know if all this data is right, let’s wait. But I said, look, we know this data is right from our own system.

“You know, so if you wait, you build up more tension and violence could come because people would think we are trying to rig the election because that is the message that was coming, that we were trying to rig the election.

“But nobody has ever conceded an election without the EC coming out to pronounce, and I said there is a first time for everything.”