I beat Oquaye by 2 votes in speakership race - Bagbin insists

Speaker of parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has said he won the speakership vote held on January 7, 2021; contrary to comments by the NPP leader in parliament that he was a 'consensus candidate' and had not won the race as widely reported.

Bagbin made the remarks on the outcome of the vote in his address upon the resumption of parliament following last week’s inauguration. At the tail end of his address, he referred to the vote which pit him against the ruling party nominee, Aaron Mike Oquaye, the immediate past speaker.

The speaker spoke within the context of calling for unity among members in the spirit of the president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s call for both sides to work together in the interest of Ghanaians.

“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,” he added.

The NDC caucus in parliament has presented the results that Bagbin refers to as the outcome of the vote. The NPP, however, insists that the vote was inconclusive due to disruptions and Bagbin had been settled on as an consensus candidate.

“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.

“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,” Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu told journalists earlier this week.