Speaker of the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana, Alban S.K Bagbin has lavishly praised former President John Dramani Mahama as the brain behind his election as Speaker.

According to Bagbin, following his voluntary “retirement” as Member of Parliament(MP) for Nadowli Kaleo, he had set his eyes on Parliamentary civil society by creating the Institute of Parliamentary Affairs Africa and was selecting a team for his work until the John Mahama-led team was used by God to elevate him.

“I thank all of you again. And I thank the Almighty of God for this gift. It is through you that I have been elected as Speaker of Parliament for the country now. I am so so grateful,” Bagbin said.

“… God smiled on me and used all of you led by His Excellency John Dramani Mahama…. I couldn’t sleep. But some spirit descended on me. That’s why that day I promised you that we were going to win this battle.” he added.

Former President John Mahama was one of the first to congratulate Alban Sumana Bagbin for his selection as Speaker of the 8th Parliament of the Fourth Republic.

He said the election of one of the oldest-serving MPs “affirms what a great democracy we can build for ourselves and how dialogue and consensus-building can make us even stronger as a nation.”

The former Nadowli Kaleo MP won a chaotic, closely contested secret ballot in the Chamber of Parliament against former Speaker, Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye.

Mr Bagbin contested and lost to Mr Mahama for the 2020 presidential ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He has been in Parliament since 1992.