NDC's 2028 Puzzle: If Naana Leads, Haruna May Be the Only One Left Standing for Running Mate

More than two years before Ghana's 2028 general election, speculation over who will lead the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) into the vote and who will run alongside them has already become a dominant subplot in the country's politics, with The Dispatch newspaper's latest front page laying out one increasingly discussed scenario: Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu as running mate to Vice President Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, while National Chairman Asiedu Nketia and Chief of Staff Julius Debrah look to the Volta Region for running mates of their own.

A Crowded, Unofficial Field
The NDC's eventual 2028 flagbearer will be chosen through a party primary expected around 2027, but the informal jockeying is already well underway among a field that regularly includes Vice President Opoku-Agyemang, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, and Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

Multiple independent polls conducted throughout 2026 by Global InfoAnalytics and Africa Policy Lens, among others have shown a genuinely fluid race, with Iddrisu and Nketia trading the lead depending on the survey and the population sampled (general public versus NDC delegates versus constituency executives), while Debrah and Forson have consistently formed a competitive second tier.

The Logic Behind "Haruna for Running Mate"

The specific scenario highlighted by The Dispatch draws on a long-running strand of political analysis in Ghana: the idea that if Opoku-Agyemang becomes the NDC's flagbearer, ticket-balancing considerations would all but rule out several of her rivals as her running mate and effectively hand the slot to Haruna Iddrisu by process of elimination.

The reasoning, laid out in commentary by columnists such as Enimil Ashon, runs as follows: a Naana Jane-led ticket would need geographic and ethnic balance, and Ghana's political convention typically pairs a southern flagbearer with a northern running mate, or vice versa.

Since Opoku-Agyemang hails from the Central Region, that logic points the party toward a running mate from the north a category into which Iddrisu, the MP for Tamale South, fits naturally. By contrast, Ato Forson and Julius Debrah are seen as less likely picks for the same ticket on tribal-balance grounds, effectively leaving Iddrisu, in Ashon's words, "the only one standing" if Opoku-Agyemang secures the flagbearer slot.

Iddrisu has himself been a vocal and repeated public backer of Opoku-Agyemang's presidential prospects, telling audiences on multiple occasions since October 2025 that she is "well-qualified to lead the nation" and has the standing to become Ghana's first female president public positioning some analysts read as consistent with a leader-and-running-mate partnership already quietly taking shape.

Where Nketia and Debrah Fit In and
Why Volta Matters
The Dispatch's framing extends the same tribal-balance logic to the party's other leading contenders: should either Asiedu Nketia or Julius Debrah instead emerge as the party's flagbearer, the expectation is that they would look to the Volta Region long considered the NDC's traditional political stronghold for a running mate, reinforcing the party's base ahead of a general election rather than pursuing a north-south pairing.

This reflects the broader, near-universal assumption across Ghanaian political commentary that the eventual NDC ticket, whoever tops it, will be constructed with an eye toward exactly this kind of regional and ethnic balancing act, given how central it has historically been to competitive Ghanaian politics.

Complicating Factors
The picture is not entirely settled. Iddrisu has publicly distanced himself from social media campaigns explicitly branding him as a flagbearer aspirant, with his office describing circulating posters to that effect as "fake" as recently as February 2026 a denial that leaves open whether he ultimately positions himself as a presidential candidate in his own right or settles into a running-mate role.

Opoku-Agyemang herself has consistently declined to engage with 2028 speculation, telling reporters in August 2026 that the party's focus should remain on governing rather than campaigning, and that its future electoral prospects depend on the current administration's performance rather than premature succession planning.

Asiedu Nketia's own ambitions have also drawn scrutiny. His nationwide "Thank You Tour" across Ghana's regions unusual for a sitting national chairman rather than a declared candidate has been read by some party members as thinly veiled campaigning, a characterisation Nketia has pushed back on directly, while polling has shown his support gradually narrowing against Ato Forson and Debrah in some surveys even as he holds an early overall lead in others.

Why It Matters This Early
With Ghana's political calendar increasingly geared toward permanent campaigning, this kind of speculative ticket-building years ahead of any formal primary has become a fixture of the country's news cycle. For the NDC specifically, how this internal contest resolves will shape not just its 2028 chances against the NPP, but the balance of power within the party itself between its northern, southern, and Volta regional bases heading into the post-Mahama era.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,

International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. ( USIP)

[email protected]
+233555275880

Sources
The Dispatch (Ghana), front page, September 17, 2026 edition

Graphic Online, "2028 looks like Bawumia vs Naana Jane," by Enimil Ashon

MyJoyOnline, "Let's focus on the job Vice President dismisses 2028 NDC flagbearer speculation"

Graphic Online, "Disregard posters projecting Haruna Iddrisu as NDC flagbearer aspirant – Press Secretary"

Citinewsroom, "Vice President Opoku-Agyemang capable of leading Ghana – Haruna Iddrisu"

The Herald Ghana, "Asiedu Nketia's early NDC 2028 flagbearer campaign elbows Julius Debrah but…"

Asaase Radio, "NDC flagbearer race: Asiedu Nketia remains frontrunner, Ato Forson gains momentum – Global InfoAnalytics"

Pulse Ghana, "Who leads the NDC? Top 6 candidates who could retain the party in power in 2028"

NDC's 2028 Puzzle: If Naana Leads, Haruna May Be the Only One Left Standing for Running Mate