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

Dr Bawumia made the concession on 8 December, just hours after vote counting commenced.

The Electoral Commission officially declared John Dramani Mahama as the winner on 9 December, with 6,328,397 votes, representing 56.55% of valid ballots cast.

Addressing party supporters at his residence on Thursday, 26 December, Dr Bawumia stated that his decision to concede early was driven by a commitment to safeguarding Ghana’s peace and stability.

“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,” Dr Bawumia explained.

He highlighted that delaying the concession could have exacerbated tensions and potentially sparked violence, given the prevailing perceptions of electoral manipulation.

“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,” he indicated.

The NPP flagbearer acknowledged that conceding before the Electoral Commission’s official announcement was unprecedented but maintained that it was the correct course of action in the circumstances.

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

Meanwhile, Dr Bawumia’s early concession has been widely praised as an act of statesmanship.