Alban Bagbin had 136 votes, not 138 – NPP's Deputy Chief Whip clarifies

Habib Iddrisu, a deputy chief whip for the New Patriotic Party’s Members of Parliament has revealed that both Alban Bagbin and Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye polled 136 votes each in the Speaker of Parliament election held in the chamber of Parliament on Thursday, January 7, 2020.

The Tolon MP told Citi News in an interview monitored by GhanaWeb that, the leadership of the house in a meeting held after the Carlos Ahenkorah incident countered the votes and 136 votes were for Alban Bagbin, contrary to the 138 being peddled.

He stated that the NDC Chief Whip Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka who came into the meeting with the ballot papers alleged that Carlos Ahenkorah had chewed the two remaining ballots which for Alban Bagbin.

He disclosed that despite their doubts with Muntaka’s claims, they decided to reach a consensus to allow peace prevail and focus on the investiture of then-President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo.

“When the leadership met, we countered the votes and it was 136...there was one spoilt ballot. The NDC alleged that the two missing ballot papers were chewed by Carlos Ahenkorah. So we decided to confer it on Bagbin”, Habib Iddrisu said.

This account by Habib Iddrisu confirms Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu’s position that the Speaker of Parliament position was conferred on Alban Bagbin and not via electoral victory.

The Suame MP told GhanaWeb that following the commotion that ensued after Carlos Ahenkorah’s ballot snatching incident, an agreement was reached to confer the position on the long-serving lawmaker in the country’s history.