General News of Tuesday, 21 February 2017
Source: 3news.com
Former Member of Parliament for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa and anti-graft crusader Paul Collins Appiah Ofori has shot down Mahama Ayariga’s bribery allegation, describing it as “unbelievable story”.
The former MP who was speaking on Onua 95.1FM’s Morning show ‘Yen Nsem Pa’ with Bright Kwesi Asempa explained that “I don’t believe the whole story when he (Ayariga) started it. There is nothing that he can show as concrete evidence, hard evidence that is compelling. All that he and his colleagues have been doing and continue to do is talking without proof”.
Mahama Ayariga who is the Bawku Central accused current Minister for Energy Boakye Agyarko of attempting to bribe the minority NDC members on the Appointments Committee with an amount of 3000 Cedis each, ostensibly to have his nomination approved after the latter had gone through vetting.
The allegation comes hours after the Minority had refused to support the approval of Boakye Agyarko and Osafo Maafo who was the Senior Minister nominee. The Bawku Central Legislator believes the money was specifically intended to influence the minority to approve Agyarko’s nomination.
But days after Parliament’s ad hoc Committee started its work to unravel the mystery behind the allegations as made by Mahama Ayariga, anti-graft crusader P.C Appiah Ofori believes it was an attempt to throw mud at the Nana Akufo-Addo-led government.
“They are only seeking to defame Nana Addo’s government. It is a revenge tactics they are employing. I think they have rather defamed the august house enough, and if the allegations are found to be false, Ayariga should be removed from Parliament. He would have dragged the good name of Parliament into disrepute.”
He concluded that the allegations have also defamed the entire 275 members of the House.