Dr John Saviour Yaw Eleblu, a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, has begun his campaign to defeat North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

Dr Eleblu filed his nominations for the NPP parliamentary candidate position at the party’s office in Battor last week, surrounded by party leaders and hundreds of supporters.

“It is with great joy that I offer myself to serve the good people of North Tongu through the great NPP. I want to serve my country, region, and district in a leadership position as I have been serving the University of Ghana, the premier University,” he said after filing the nomination.

“I have what it takes to be a parliamentary candidate to challenge the opposition NDC’s candidate to win the seat. I am very ready to change the narrative of NPP in North Tongu and bring hope to the party folks in the constituency,” he said.

Dr Eleblu promised that, despite the NPP’s poor performance in North Tongu, he has the necessary measures in place to canvass votes and destabilise the NDC.

“Our target is to get 30,000 votes in North Tongu, and we have mapped out many complementary strategies to achieve this. The first is our membership drive to register a minimum of 10,000 members,” he disclosed.

He stated that the NPP has made significant contributions to the constituency’s development, including a $34 million investment in the Togorme Irrigation project, which is expected to serve as a foundational infrastructure for the development of agricultural and agribusiness projects for the needed economic transformation.

He stated that the NPP has ensured the construction of new roads in the area, two new courts for the judiciary to promote the swift delivery of justice, the development of a new market complex in Juapong, and many other projects.

“Vigilante” MP

Dr Eleblu urged supporters that the constituency deserved an MP who is dedicated to improving people’s lives rather than pursuing national clout.

“North Tongu deserves a real MP. Somebody who will represent the people and lobby for jobs and development projects. And not somebody who is becoming like a vigilante around chasing people for budget overruns,” he said.

“In fact, NDC has not done anything to lift the people of North Tongu and Volta Region out of poverty. It is only the NPP that cares and we must begin to reward the party with votes,” he added.

Vision for constituency

Dr Eleblu stated that he will provide transformative leadership of service, openness, ethics, and honesty to the constituency.

He stated that he will construct business development centres in all electoral regions and that citizens will be assisted in starting and growing firms in order to produce wealth.

“I will change our constituency into an agricultural hub to feed North Tongu and the entire country and also for export,” he said. 

Dr Eleblu offered to help develop three Technical, Vocational, Engineering, and Technology (TVET) institutes in the area to teach adolescents to be entrepreneurs.

He also promised to help competent youths in the party achieve entrance to academic institutions of their choosing, as well as jobs in the security services and other government organisations.

Who is Dr Eleblu?

Dr Eleblu has deep political roots as the son of a former parliamentary candidate in the seat, Christopher Kofi Eleblu, who previously worked as the Ministry of Health’s head of internal audit.

On a fully sponsored scholarship from the University of Ghana and the French Embassy in Ghana, he got a PhD in Plant Biology from the Université Paris Sud 11, Orsay, France.

He graduated from the University of Ghana with a BSc and an MPhil in Agricultural Science.

He is presently a Senior Lecturer at the Biotechnology Centre and the Coordinator of Research Programmes at the University of Ghana’s West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI).

He has worked as the main investigator on several scientific research projects and has managed project teams to teach over 4,000 farmers and 300 extension workers across West Africa.

He has supervised over 22 PhD students and has over 30 scientific papers to his name in international peer-reviewed journals.

In his eight years at the University of Ghana, he has received more than four grant-funded projects. He has supported and directed project proposal creation that has resulted to the University of Ghana receiving more than $10 million from notable donor organisations such as the World Bank, African Union, European Union, International Atomic Energy Agency, and the KGL Foundation.