Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has warned that allowing an open internal election to select the party’s presidential candidate for the 2028 general election could create divisions and threaten the survival of the party.
Speaking to media personality Roselyn Feli, Gbande argued that the NDC should consider an alternative approach to choosing its next presidential candidate rather than adopting what he described as an open-ended contest.
“I am against voting in the next election. Choosing of presidency. I’ll tell you, if the NDC jokes and allows us to open for freeway election like the NPP does, by the time we come back our party will collapse. Take it from me. I’m talking out of what I know,” he said.
Gbande proposed that the party’s Council of Elders should instead play a leading role in selecting and endorsing the person they believe is best suited to lead the NDC into the 2028 election.
He said the party should embrace a culture of recognising members according to merit, experience and what he described as the right time for their leadership.
“I’m cautioning and pleading with our people that at certain times, it is not about rights, it’s about wisdom, and that everybody’s time will come,” he said.
“I’m saying that NDC must be an organisation whose story is that we honour the ones that deserve to be honoured. And so when it is your time, it should be your time,” he added.
Gbande cited Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as an example of what he considers a gradual rise through public service and party recognition.
“Look, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman, before 2012, she was an IEA moderator. He said it on air that I am not a member of the NDC. Fast forward, as destiny has it, she became a minister of education, performed very well. She became a first female vice president. That is honouring her,” he stated.
When asked whether he harboured presidential ambitions himself, Gbande said he did not aspire to become President.
He suggested that his approach to governance would be particularly strict, especially regarding the discipline and preparedness of government officials.
“If I become a president, it will be a very difficult thing, because a lot of the things that I see, I won’t allow it, and it will be like every minister will go for six-month military training. Every DCE will be trained,” he said.
Gbande argued that security training could help public officials develop discipline and avoid what he described as lazy attitudes and poor decision-making.
“You see, when you have security training, your brain functionality is very hard, and it tames and filters you from very lazy attitude and lazy thinking,” he added.
He said concerns about discipline and prioritising public service over personal interests were among the reasons he had no ambition to become president.
“And that is one of the things affecting us as a country. And so if I become president, you don’t have a room to place yourself first. You can’t. So I don’t aspire to be a president,” he stated.
