Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko should resign over allegations that he attempted to bribe the minority members of the Appointments Committee, until his name is cleared after investigations are concluded on the matter, retired diplomat K.B. Asante has said.

According to the senior citizen, President Nana Akufo-Addo should privately urge Mr Agyarko to resign and offer him another appointment if he is cleared after investigations are conducted.

“It is a good idea that he should leave the scene. You cannot work with a minister with so many allegations especially when we have so many important things to do. So yes here, the president should step in [but] not in the public domain but he should call the minister and ask him, in the circumstances will you please resign so that we go into this matter and if everything is fine I will find another thing for you to do? In my opinion, yes, he should call him not publicly but quietly and say please I expect you to resign on this matter so that you can clear your name,” Mr Asante told Moro Awudu on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class 91.3FM on Monday January 30.

Member of Parliament for Bawku Central Mahama Ayariga on Friday January 27 claimed Mr Agyarko, whose approval as a minister had been frozen pending the determination of certain issues, dished out GHS3000 as bribe to each of the minority members on the committee with the aim to influence them so they approve his nomination without further delay.

Mr Ayariga claimed the money was given to Committee Chair Joe Osei Owusu by Mr Agyarko who in turn channeled it through Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak to the MPs, who, according to the Bawku Central MP, subsequently rejected it.

However, all the actors he mentioned in the bribery saga have denied the allegation.