'Qur'an mixed with other documents' - Watch as headmistress sparks reactions at PAC

A clash between Islamic Girls Senior High School headmistress, Safia Salifu and PAC Chairperson, Abena Osei-Asare, over the handling of the Quran at Public Account Committee sitting on May 21, 2026, has sparked reactions online.

This incident stemmed from a request by Salifu for special religious privileges in the handling of the Holy Quran at the time she was asked to swear an oath during a Public Accounts Committee hearing.

She respectfully requested that the Holy Quran be accorded special religious consideration.

She asked that the Quran be placed in a separate box, kept apart from other documents and books, and handled exclusively by a Muslim, citing the sacred nature of the Holy Book in Islamic tradition.

"I have a plea, honourable chair. Please can you put Honourable Miss Bao in charge of our Quran because we don’t put anything on Quran and it is being mixed up with some other documents. Thank you," she said.

"No, we have to get a separate box to keep the Quran in … and probably get a Muslim to serve it to me because we perform ablution before touching it. I see that it has been mixed with some other documents. Thank you,” Salifu firmly stated.

Reacting to her plea, however, the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, Abena Osei-Asare, 'rejected' the request.

She emphasised equal treatment for all religious texts used in the committee’s proceedings, describing both the Bible and the Quran simply as tools for the work at hand.

“We place all the Bibles and Qurans on the table. When you come… You pick one. They are treated as instruments of work and used as such,” she said.

Meanwhile, the exchange, captured on video and widely shared online, has drawn reactions from Ghanaians.

While some have defended the request as an expression of faith, the majority of reactions online say it is an inappropriate overreach during official proceedings.

Watch the moment below:

“We place all the Bibles and Qurans on the table. When you come and pick one, they are treated as instruments of work and used as such.”

“We place all the Bibles and Qurans on the table. When you come and pick one, they are treated as instruments of work and used as such.”

— Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, Hon. Abena Osei-Asare, responding to a request by the Headmistress of Islamic Girls’ Senior… pic.twitter.com/Lo2FalWzzO

— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) May 21, 2026

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