Chief Executive Officer of the Social Investment Fund, Abass Nurudeen, has accused the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) of deliberately seeking to delay the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, popularly known as the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill, for political gain ahead of the 2028 general elections.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, Mr. Nurudeen argued that the NPP’s actions are intended to keep the bill unresolved so it can be used as a campaign issue in the next election.
“The NPP’s goal is to delay the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill so they can campaign on it in 2028. That is why they are making all this noise,” he said.
According to him, Parliament must avoid situations where its work is hindered by the absence of a few members, stressing that constitutional provisions on quorum and parliamentary procedure should guide legislative business.
“We shouldn’t create a situation where we wake up and have parliamentary moguls who can stifle the business of Parliament if they are not around,” he stated.
Mr. Nurudeen maintained that once the bill has been duly passed without any constitutional or procedural defects, the next step should be its transmission to President John Dramani Mahama for consideration.
“At this stage, all we should look forward to is presidential assent. If the bill has been passed and it doesn’t suffer any constitutional or procedural flaw, the next stage is transmitting it to the President,” he said.
He explained that under the Constitution, the President has the option to either assent to the bill or return it to Parliament with reasons for withholding approval.
“The President has two options: either sign it or give reasons why and then take it back to Parliament,” he noted.
Mr. Nurudeen expressed confidence that President Mahama would act in accordance with the law when the bill reaches his desk.
“Let’s put the ball firmly in the court of the President and see what will happen. I know that President Mahama, being a law-abiding citizen, will operate within the confines of the law,” he said.
He further insisted that the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) remains committed to seeing the bill passed.
“We will definitely pass the bill because we promised Ghanaians and we will stick to our word,” he added.
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