President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed hope that the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, will avoid joining the ranks of “one-time presidents”, a comment apparently aimed at the recent rejection of former president John Dramani Mahama to argue with Bawumia.

Mahama has repeatedly refused to engage in a debate with Bawumia, suggesting he would be “lowering himself” to debate the NPP Presidential candidate.

Akufo-Addo chastised this position, disregarding Mahama’s reasoning as “baseless” and noted that Mahama is particularly established as a “one-term president” among Ghana’s recent leaders.

“I heard from Mahama that he is not ready to argue with Bawumia today or tomorrow because Bawumia is not in his class. I don’t understand what class Mahama is in that it is impossible for Bawumia to argue with him. “The only class Mahama is in is that…since we entered the fourth republic in 1993, Ghana has voted for five people for president.

Unfortunately, one of them is late: Professor John Atta Mills. Now, of the four remaining Ghanaians, one of them voted for him, because he did not perform to the standard when he was in government, he was voted out.

“So if Mahama says he belongs to a class, then he is that class of one and in that class he is alone. I don’t think this is the kind of class I want Bawumia to be in.”

The president added that if Dr. Bawumia succeeds him, he expects Bawumia to get a second term.

“God willing, when Bawumia becomes president on January 7, he will be re-elected to continue and join me, Rawlings and Kufour, who have all served two terms. “We’re not looking to elect a one-term president,” he said.