Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Gomoa West, Alexander Abban, has stated that he does not buy into the government's defence by lawyer Kobina Tahir Hammond (KT Hammond), his party’s former MP for Adansi Asokwa, who is implicated in the AKSA power deal bribery allegation together with his client, former Power Minister Kwabena Donkor.

Alexander Abban made these remarks during a recent panel discussion on Channel One TV, while bemoaning acts of corruption in the government, where the costs of projects are inflated at the expense of taxpayers.

“Where is it that this... If you go to the ordinary market, let's say it is GH¢10, but when the government is doing it, it is GH¢50. What nonsense is that? When the government is even doing it on a larger scale, should it not? Economics tells us that you have to get economies of scale from that, right? So the unit price must even go down. Is that not the case? But what do we see?” he questioned.

The former legislator indicated that it is for this reason that he does not buy into the denial of KT Hammond on some MPs and top government officials receiving bribes of over $1 million from the former Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Asante Berko, who has now been convicted in the United States, to see the deal through.

He asserted that, per his experience in the House and the way things operate in the country, he believes the said bribes were taken.

“And for instance, me, all the denials and all those things from KT Hammond. I just listened to it and let it pass through my ear. It is not true… I live in this country. I've been in Parliament before,” he said.

The former Gomoa West MP also said that most politicians go into power to make deals to enrich themselves and serve the country as they portray.

“Do you need to see the person before you take money from him? Let me tell you that. People go into politics because it is lucrative. People are not going there to serve. They keep saying, ‘Oh, we are going to serve. We are going to serve,’ and all that. It is because it is lucrative.

“Tell me the logic of economics in this. If you are ready to spend as much as GH¢3 million, GH¢4 million, GH¢5 million just to enter Parliament, and your expected legitimate income is not up to that. What kind of financial logic is that? It's because there's something extra somewhere which you would get. Master, give us a break,” he said.

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Watch a video of his remarks below:

'For me, all the denials from K.T. Hammond, it is not true. Do you need to see a person before you take money from him?' - Alexander Abban, former NPP MP for Gomoa West, questions K.T. Hammond’s denial of former TOR MD Asante Berko's wrongdoing in the Aksa bribery scandal

Watch… pic.twitter.com/fOgCgfHTrQ

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