Oliver Barker-Vormawor's lawyer, Nana Ato Dadzie, says his client was not responsible for a news report on social media suggesting that he had accused NDC members of the Appointment Committee of taking bribes from ministerial nominees to facilitate their approval.

Speaking during his client's appearance before the committee to answer questions on the allegation on Monday, January 29, he said, "These are my client’s instructions, he did not write the second post"

He stated that they had the text and could produce it for its origin to be traced.

He further explained that the way the second post was worded appears to have fueled anger and frustration, not only among the committee members but also within the general public.

"The second post is distasteful, and it is not right," he added. "It is absolutely not my client’s," distancing Oliver Barker-Vormavor from the allegations contained in it.

Nonetheless, he admitted that his client made the first post suggesting that committee members were demanding money to approve some nominees, and went ahead to apologise for that comment.

In the first post, dated 24th January at 9:25 pm, Barker-Vormawor wrote: “So all the money the ministerial appointees are being asked to pay to the Appointments Committee just to get approved, are those ones not affected by the ORAL?”

The second post, on 25th January, directly accused NDC members of the vetting committee of taking money from Mahama’s ministerial nominees before approving them. It read, “NDC members on the vetting committee take money from Mahama’s ministerial nominees before approving them. The Deputy Speaker must submit himself to ORAL.”

Mr Barker-Vormavor himself later rendered an apology in his own words to the committee, explaining that he had no intent to disrespect or tarnish their reputation or desecrate the institution of Parliament.