Aggrieved Minority MPs of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) led by the Zebilla MP, Cletus Avoka have petitioned the National Executives of the party to rescind the decision to change its leadership in parliament.

They also petitioned the Council of Elders of the NDC, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin and former President John Mahama.

According to Cletus Avoka, the petition is to inform the executives that the former Minority parliamentary leadership is still in office. He urged them to trust the Haruna Iddrisu-led team to serve the interest of the party in the House.

“The purpose of this press conference as I have indicated is to try to maintain cohesion in the party, ensure we remain as a body, that we are still an appealing group to the Ghanaian populace and they should trust us for December 2024”, he said.

Speaking with media personnel on Thursday in Parliament, Mr Avoka said that the newly announced leadership should be suspended.

“The basis of our petition is a prayer to suspend the reshuffle indicated by the National Executives of the party, until such time there’s a holistic meeting of stakeholders and consultations before we take a decision.

He asserted that there was an agreement earlier for the National Executives of the party to hold on to reshuffle of office holders and appointees until the party’s parliamentary and flagbearer primaries are conducted.

“We are saying so against the backdrop that the National Executive Committee of the party a few weeks ago decided that all appointees in the party and in Parliament should remain in office until after we have concluded the parliamentary primaries and the flagbearer primaries on the 13th of May this year – that all office holders and appointees should remain in office until the primaries are over.

The Zebilla MP stressed that the primaries have not yet taken place and they are “therefore surprised a reshuffle is hitting the caucus of Parliament. We think that is premature”.

Mr Avoka further explained that the various committees of the party did not have a formal meeting to discuss the reshuffle of the parliamentary leadership.

He said that members of the NDC caucus were also not consulted on the issue, adding that it is a wrong decision by the party.

“We have also investigated and discovered that the Functional Executive Committee, the National Executive Committee, including the Council of Elders did not have a formal meeting to take a decision on this matter. Of course, the caucus as a body was not consulted on this matter and we think that is quite not well in place”, he said.