Veteran politician Alban Bagbin backed by the NDC caucus in parliament has been elected the Speaker for the eighth parliament of the 4th Republic.
He emerged the winner after garnering 138 votes in a tensed polls conducted in the Chamber.
The incumbent Speaker, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, nominated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on the other hand secured 136.
The high stakes election of the Speaker of parliament for the 8th parliament turned chaotic at dawn causing balloting to stall for almost 4 hours.
The process recorded numerous scuffles with the third breakout triggering a bizarre situation where soldiers stormed the chamber to restore order.
Meanwhile, calm was eventually restored in the chamber after the disturbances.
Secret balloting resumed albeit a slow-paced process and dragged the voting till morning.
The Speakership position won by an opposition party is a novelty in Ghanaian politics.
Profile of Alban Bagbin
Born on September 24, 1957, at Sombo in the Upper West Region, Hon. Bagbin is a graduate of the University of Ghana (1977-1980) and the Ghana School of Law (1980 -1982).
He holds an Executive Masters in Governance and Leadership from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
The MP for Nadowli Kaleo and former Majority Leader started schooling at an early age at the Roman Catholic Primary School, Sombo, did his second cycle education at Wa Secondary School and ended at the Tamale Secondary School, where he earned his Ordinary Level and Advanced Level certificates before entering the University of Ghana in 1977.
From 1980 to 1982, he worked at the Bureau of Statistics and Statistical Service as the acting Secretary to the Statistical Service Board while between 1982 and 1983; he worked as Personnel Manager of the erstwhile State Hotels Corporation.
Mr. Bagbin practiced as private legal practitioner in the Akyem Chambers, a firm of legal practitioners, consultants and notaries public, as a partner.
He is currently the longest serving a member of parliament, having served since 1993 when the first parliament under the 4th Republic was inaugurated.
He has held a number of positions in Parliament since 1994 and capped his law making career with the ultimate, the Majority Leader and Leader of the House.
In the first Parliament of the Fourth Republic, he was made the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Subsidiary Legislation and Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy and Member of the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development.
In the Second Parliament of the Fourth Republic, Mr. Bagbin was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs with oversight responsibilities for the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Electoral Commission, National Commission on Civic Education, Office of Parliament and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
He was also the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee from 2001 to 2005.
He was also the Vice-Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament.
He did not run again for Parliament in the 2020 elections.
