Communications Director for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akomea has asserted that the bribery scandal heart-rending the Parliamentary Appointment Committee is only an extension of the internal conflict existing among the members of the Minority in Parliament.
According to him, the internal conflict in the Minority in Parliament over who leads in the 7th Parliament has extended to the Minority serving on the Ministerial Vetting Committee.
Speaking on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Nana Akomea explained that some of the members from the Minority were not support of the leadership of Haruna Iddrisu and Muntaka Mubarak as they preferred a candidate from the Volta Region to head the Minority in Parliament.
He maintained it is by this reason that confusion has rocked the Minority on the Appointment Committee as there are counter accusations over handed the bribe money to the Minority on the Vetting Committee.
“The Vetting Committee bribery scandal has nothing to with Boakye Agyarko but it has everything to do with the internal conflict in the Minority over whom to become the leader of the Minority. It is not possible to bribe Parliament; I have not seen or heard bribery taking place in Parliament before and so some NDC members calling on Boakye Agyarko to step down is ridiculous”, he averred.
He emphasised that “some of the Minority members are against the choice of Haruna Iddrisu and Muntaka Mubarak as leaders of the Minority; there is division in the Minority because some wanted the leadership to go to the Volta Region but it eventually went to Haruna Iddrisu and that conflict is not over. The bribe issue is an addition of the conflict”.
He enlightened that any money given in Parliament has to be signed in consonance with the purpose of the money by the Parliamentarian in order to render proper account for the money; making the claims of those who considered it to be allowance confusing as they didn’t sign for the money.
“So how come they received money which they thought was an allowance and never signed for it? If indeed the money was from Boakye Agyarko in order for them to do something for him, how would they have carried out the duty for him since they didn’t know the money was from him?…it doesn’t make sense the logic behind their claim”, he quizzed.
“If Appointment Committee wants to disqualify someone, it has to be on technical grounds. The law states how someone can be disqualified; it is on that grounds that the person doesn’t vote and on dual nationality but Boakye Agyarko is not affected by these laws and so why will he pay bribe? If it had come to worst, Boakye Agyarko would have been passed because NPP has super majority and so why will he bribe the Minority?” he enquired.
