Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has claimed that the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) could lose more than 35 parliamentary seats if general elections were held today, citing what he described as recent research findings.
He used the claim to encourage New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament to remain united and intensify their political activities ahead of the 2028 general elections.
Addressing Parliament on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, during the opening of the Third Meeting of the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament, Afenyo-Markin said the findings pointed to a decline in the NDC’s electoral fortunes.
“Mr Speaker, I want to tell my colleagues that just yesterday, research findings were published that clearly state that if elections were to be held today, the NDC will be losing over 35 seats,” he said.
The Minority Leader expressed confidence that the NPP could regain its parliamentary majority in 2028 and secure victory for its flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in the presidential election.
He urged his colleagues to maintain their focus, arguing that the party’s internal challenges had largely been resolved.
“So Mr Speaker, what it means is that if we press on, if we press on like we are doing, come 2028, we will overtake them and remain the majority and elect Dr Mahamadu Bawumia as the president of Ghana,” he added.
Afenyo-Markin also compared the organisational preparedness of the two major political parties, claiming that the NPP had completed its internal processes and was preparing to select parliamentary candidates.
He argued that the NDC was yet to make similar progress.
“Mr Speaker, we are done with all our internal processes. We have a national chairman. They don’t have a national chairman. We are starting the process of selecting parliamentary candidates. They have not gotten anywhere at all,” he stated.
Beyond the electoral contest, the Minority Leader used his address to criticise the government’s handling of several national issues, including unemployment, the cost of living, illegal mining, cocoa prices and public resource management.
He questioned the implementation of the NDC’s 24-hour economy policy, arguing that it had yet to deliver the jobs and economic opportunities promised to young people.
“A 24-hour economy that cannot keep a single factory switched on. A 24-hour economy that cannot build a single market is not an economy. It is a hopeless slogan,” he said.
On the management of the Ghana Gold Board and the government’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, Afenyo-Markin called for investigations into their operations.
He maintained that Parliament had a responsibility to scrutinise the financial implications and decisions associated with the programme.
He also raised concerns about the impact of illegal mining on the country’s environment, warning that continued destruction could affect agricultural productivity and threaten the livelihoods of millions of Ghanaians.
The Minority Leader further called on the government to settle outstanding arrears owed to public sector workers and address recurring industrial actions.
He said the Minority would continue to scrutinise government policies and decisions while holding the administration accountable.
Although Afenyo-Markin expressed confidence in the NPP’s prospects for 2028, his claim that the NDC could lose more than 35 seats was based on research findings he referenced during his parliamentary address. He did not provide further details of the research in the remarks presented.
