The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has shared a list of names from the Minority Caucus in Parliament who had agreed with him in conclave on the need to seek the Speaker's clarification on whether the Clerk of Parliament's actions were in line with procedures or not.
Speaking on Joy FM on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, the leader mentioned the names of former Minister of Defence Dominic Nitiwul, Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Appiagyei, MP for Weija-Gbawe Jerry Ahmed, and MP for Tolon Habib Iddrisu.
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According to him, the confusion stemmed from the Speaker’s statement on a parliamentary process, which he said was open to interpretation.
“As for what the Speaker said, it is open to different interpretation. Speaker said that if he filed processes, it may, he didn't say that it will, so we're asking Speaker to come and explain what ‘it may’ means,” Ayariga said.
He added that he had convened a meeting with Minority members to ensure transparency and avoid misunderstandings.
“When I met with them, I said I think that perhaps you have a genuine misunderstanding of it, and so because your misunderstanding may be genuine, let's all be transparent about it. Let's get back into the chamber, restate your case, emphasise the fact that you acted based on Speaker's statement that a process filed by you ‘may’ [be valid], and then I will also repeat what I think the clerk acted on, and all of us will agree that there's a genuine misunderstanding, it's not your fault.
“… Let's call Speaker to come and clarify. I was being very sincere and they agreed with me in conclave. They said they wanted to go and talk to their backbenchers and see if they will allow them to come and make a statement. I said, your backbenchers are the ones to allow me to come and make a statement in the house? Can you imagine that? Nitiwul was in the meeting, Honorable Habib, the deputy Minority Leader [Patricia Apiagyei] was in the meeting, Honorable Jerry was in the meeting and I was in the meeting,” he stated.
He said the Minority members initially agreed to consult their backbenchers before returning to the chamber to allow him to make a statement and invite the Speaker to clarify.
“When I explained to them, they said, ‘okay, we'll go and talk to our backbenchers to see whether we can all come back into the chamber, so that as a leader, you can state this clearly. If you state this clearly, then we can now invite Speaker to come and give a ruling.’ They went and then we sat in the Speaker's waiting room for about 10 minutes and they came back and said, our backbenchers have refused. I said, who are your backbenchers to say they have refused? Who are they? Who are your backbenchers to say that I, as a leader cannot come into the chamber and then try to resolve an issue?” he continued.
The Bawku Central MP insisted that the chaotic scenes that ensued in Parliament and the actions of the Minority was not about the declaration of the Kpandai seat as vacant.
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“It's not about Kpandai. Even if you have issues with Kpandai and you are a law-abiding group of political actors, you know the law and the process, but to try to hijack the democracy and start threatening instability and the democracy, then who are you?” he concluded.
Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga names members of a team from the Minority who agreed with him in conclave on the need to seek the Speaker's clarification on whether the Clerk's actions were in line or not. #JoySMS pic.twitter.com/tCU0VMEXN5
— Joy 99.7 FM (@Joy997FM) December 10, 2025
MAG/AE
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