The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) must account for former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta before asking Ghanaians for another chance to govern.

His comments were made on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday during a heated exchange with the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, where he criticised the Minority and pointed to earlier political promises they made about the former minister’s return to Ghana to face accountability.

The exchange followed reports that Lawyers for Ken Ofori-Atta on Tuesday reported that a US court has granted his request for permanent residency in the United States.

Raising concerns in the House, the Majority leader said that the opposition party should be held responsible for its former minister, who oversaw the country’s finances during their time in government.

“Ghanaians should demand of the NPP that if they don’t produce Ken Ofori-Atta in this country, they should never come before them asking for power again.”

He said that the NPP must be held accountable for the actions of its former Finance Minister, insisting that the party cannot distance itself from him.

"Ghanaians must demand of the NPP because you presented him to this Parliament as your nominee for a finance minister and we approved him as a nominee for finance minister," he said.

Mr Ayariga said that Parliament entrusted Mr Ofori-Atta with the country's finances and accused him of failing in that responsibility.

"We gave him our economy to manage, and he mismanaged it and ran away," he stated.

He further questioned why the NPP should be allowed to seek another mandate from voters without first ensuring the former minister returns to Ghana.

"And you want to go back to Ghanaians and ask Ghanaians to give you power again, so that you will bring another Ken Ofori-Atta to mismanage the economy and run to Europe. That's what you want to do," he said.

According to the Majority Leader, Ghanaians should make the former minister's return a condition for considering the NPP in any future election.

"And Ghanaians must be asking the NPP not to even appear before them to ask for power unless they have brought Ken Ofori-Atta back to this country," he added.