Bagbin never met Akufo-Addo to settle vacant seat controversy – Parliament

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has dismissed claims that he met with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to negotiate a resolution regarding the controversy surrounding the declaration of four parliamentary seats as vacant.

A video currently circulating on social media shows Speaker Bagbin and President Akufo-Addo in a meeting, with suggestions that the meeting was held to discuss the recent vacant seat declarations. However, Parliament has issued a statement refuting these claims.

In the statement released on Tuesday, 22nd October, Parliament clarified that the video in question was actually from an event on 4th July 2024, during which Speaker Bagbin presented the maiden Democracy Cup to the President. The video, Parliament insists, has no connection to the ongoing parliamentary controversy.

“The attention of Parliament has been drawn to a video circulating on social media insinuating that the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has been invited to a meeting with the President to negotiate a settlement in respect of the pronouncement by the Rt. Hon. Speaker on Thursday, 17th October 2024, in response to a call by the Minority Leader to declare the seats of four (4) Members of Parliament vacant.

“Parliament states without any equivocation that there is no iota of truth in the insinuation in the circulated video. The video in question was taken on 4th July 2024, when the Rt. Hon. Speaker led a delegation to present the maiden Democracy Cup to the President, the statement read.

It added that the attempt to mislabel the video and distort facts to tarnish the integrity of Speaker Bagbin and Parliament is “disingenuous and unfortunate.”

The statement urged the public to disregard the misleading narrative, stressing that there has been no recent meeting between the Speaker and the President concerning the matter of the vacant seats.

The controversy began on Thursday, 17th October, when Speaker Bagbin declared the parliamentary seats for Fomena, Amenfi Central, Suhum, and Agona West vacant. The decision has been stayed by the Supreme Court pending further legal deliberations.

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