I was elected Speaker of Parliament after securing 138 votes – Bagbin tells Osei Kyei…

He said “I fully subscribe to that view. No more, no less. Cooperation, dialogue, accommodation, and consensus-building must guide this Parliament in the conduct of its business. We must work together for the betterment of Ghana and Ghanaians.

“That I believe is the demand of Ghanaians and the loud and clear message of the 2020 general elections. That is the message in the votes of 136 in favor of Rt Hon. Aaron Mike Oquaye, as to 138 for Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, with one spoilt ballot, which propelled me to this high office of Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana.”

His comments come after Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament claimed that Bagbin was selected as Speaker of Parliament through consensus.

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According to him, the Speaker election was truncated following the chaos that transpired during the inauguration of the 8th Parliament.

The Suame MP explained that he initially wanted Bagbin to be sworn in by the Chief Justice, after which a settlement will be made for a re-run of the election, but the NDC Caucus rejected the idea.

He noted that after hours of engagement, a consensus was reached by some leaders of both divides to select Bagbin as Speaker.

“As part of building a consensus, when we met, my first proposal to my colleagues was that this election has been truncated just as the first three attempts had been truncated, and we had to begin a new voting process,” Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said on Accra-based Citi FM.

He added: “So that was the initial proposal. My colleagues went into the conclave and came to say that they objected to that proposal that we should do a re-run. So we were thinking through, and it was still in the process of further engagement that we came to the conclusion that where we are, let us adopt Bagbin as a consensus candidate.”