According to the spokesperson of Mr Mahama’s team, Mr James Agyenim-Boateng, they will not throw the first blow but if Dr Bawumia brings the blow to their doorstep, they will respond appropriately.

“We won’t throw the first blow but if it is brought to our doorstep, we will hit back in equal measure and we are sending that message clearly to Dr Bawumia and anyone else who intends to do that,” he warned.

Mr Agyenim-Boateng made this known in a radio interview on Accra-based Joy FM Tuesday evening, October 9.

Vice-President Bawumia has said it will be suicidal for Ghanaians to hand over the administration of the country back to former President John Dramani Mahama.

Dr Bawumia was commenting on the decision of former President John Mahama to contest the flag bearer slot of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

“I hear the incompetent one says he wants to come back, he wants to come and do more damage, as if he didn’t do enough damage; well we’re waiting for him, we’re waiting for him, we’re waiting for him, oh my God,” Dr Bawumia is reported to have said during a meeting with Metropolitan and Municipal District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in Accra last Friday.

Read also: 'I hear incompetent Mahama wants a come back to do more damage'

However, reacting to Dr Bawumia’s comments, Mr Agyenim-Boateng said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, which Dr Bawumia is part has broken virtually every promise they made to Ghanaians during their 2016 campaign.

According to him, the “two-faced” Dr Bawumia spearheaded the lies that the NPP rode on to take power from the NDC and wondered why the Vice President was not focusing on fixing the country’s problems and instead attacking the image of Mr Mahama.

Mr Agyenim-Boateng added that Dr Bawumia “as a hypocritical politician is clear to all” and that Dr Bawumia used senior high students for partisan politics during the 2016 elections, but the headmaster of the Tempane Senior High School in the Upper East region, Mr Dominic Ndegu Amolale has been suspended by the Ghana Education Service, following reports that an NDC national Organiser hopeful went to the school and interacted with the students.

Related: GES condemns political campaign in schools

“What we are saying is that we are not going to make anybody to take former President John Dramani Mahama for granted,” he said, adding that “We are not going to let anybody turn him into his or her punching bag.”

Mr Mahama, who is on a campaign tour hoping to get the nod to lead the NDC for the 2020 election, has accused the NPP of lying its way into power and failing to deliver on its promises.

Similarly, he has described the Akufo-Addo-led government as “super incompetent.”