A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, Michael Abanga has appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to appoint Mr Abraham Ossei-Aidooh, former Majority leader as the eighth Speaker of Parliament in the fourth Republic.
“Mr Ossei-Aidooh is a former Deputy Minority Leader, former Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and is also a practising lawyer with more than 40 years at the Bar. We, as a party, have in him, the quintessence of a lawyer and law practitioner”.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on his expectations in the next government, he said he was expecting a well-organized parliament considering the fact that the NPP and NDC were both having almost the same number of seats and Mr Aidooh that he had a working stint with was the most qualified for the position to succeed Rt. Hon. Prof. Aaron Michael Ocquaye.
Asked if he was speaking on behalf of the Party, Mr Abagna said he was not an Executive member of the Party and was therefore speaking for himself as an Activist of the Party.
He said Mr Ossei-Aidooh was currently a member of the Parliamentary Service Board, a foundational member of the NPP, and along with the likes of former Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, Rt. Hon. Mike Ocquaye, were credited with pioneering Parliamentary practice in the Fourth Republic.
“In the first term of our party under you Mr. President, this great father of our party was not honoured with any befitting position, and it is understandable because the NPP is filled to the brim with great leaders. However, we strongly believe that the time has come for him to be honoured with something appropriate, and the Speaker’s position is the ideal offer to make,”Mr Abanga said.
“He is respected in both the NPP and the NDC and given that Parliament will be tight due to the lack of clear Parliamentary majority, an experienced person is what we will require to enable us steer through policies, not only for the benefit of government, but also for the benefit of the nation.
He said in 2005, his colleagues from both sides of the political divide declined to question him in 2005 when he went for vetting after he was designated as the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
“Mr Alban Bagbin, then Minority Leader, Mr Freddy Blay, then first Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of appointment Committee and many others declined to pose questions saying they knew that he was an experienced Parliamentarian,”.
He added Mr Aidooh was also a member of the Pan-African Parliament and the rapporteur of the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline, one of the 10 permanent committees of the Pan-African Parliament with all the experience to be Speaker of Parliament.
On some of the programme interventions, Mr Abanga called on President Akufo-Addo to do everything possible to abolish the double-track system in Senior High Schools and improve on the one district, one factory and one village, one dam programmes.