Speaker Bagbin Swears In NDC’s New MPs for Akwatia and Tamale Central, Bolstering Party’s Parliamentary Majority
In a concise ceremony during Tuesday’s parliamentary sitting, Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin administered the oaths of allegiance and office to two new National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament: Bernard Bediako Baidoo for Akwatia in the Eastern Region and Professor Alidu Seidu for Tamale Central in the Northern Region.
The induction formalizes their entry into the Ninth Parliament, filling vacancies left by the tragic deaths of their predecessors and reinforcing the NDC’s commanding presence in the legislature.
Baidoo, a lawyer and former NDC constituency secretary, clinched the Akwatia seat in a hard-fought by-election on September 2, 2025, securing 18,199 votes (54.3%) against the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Solomon Kwame Asumadu’s 15,235 votes (45.1%), with the Liberal Party of Ghana’s Patrick Owusu trailing at 82 votes.
The contest, in a traditional swing constituency that has flipped between the two major parties since 1992, replaced the late Ernest Yaw Kumi (NPP), who passed away earlier in 2025. Baidoo, who triumphed in the NDC primary with 380 votes out of 980, pledged to champion “lawful mining” and development in the mining-dependent area, where galamsey tensions simmer.
Professor Seidu, an academic and unopposed candidate, was declared the winner of the Tamale Central by-election on September 9, 2025, succeeding the late Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, who perished in a helicopter crash on August 6, 2025, alongside two other officials en route from Accra to Tamale.
Seidu’s uncontested victory, as the sole nominee, reflects the NDC’s stronghold in the Dagbon heartland, where the party has dominated since 1992, and follows a smooth primary process unmarred by competition.
“Congratulations on your election. Honour your oath, uphold the dignity of the House, and let your service be marked by integrity and accountability,” Bagbin exhorted, underscoring the MPs’ pivotal role in national governance. The duo now bolsters the NDC’s caucus to 185 seats in the 276-member Parliament, with four Independent MPs—affiliating for business—effectively tipping the balance further toward the ruling party amid the NPP’s reduced 90 seats post-2024 elections.
This swearing-in caps a turbulent period for the NDC, marked by the by-elections’ peaceful conduct despite initial fears of violence in Akwatia, and aligns with Parliament’s reconvening today under Bagbin’s gavel. Baidoo and Seidu join a chamber focused on the 2026 budget, anti-corruption probes, and economic reforms, with their fresh voices poised to influence debates on mining regulations and northern development.
