Dr. Clement Apaak, Member of Parliament for Builsa South, has accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of using the 2025 mini-budget as a bargaining tool to pressure the Minority to support its proposals.

His comments come after the Finance Minister failed to present the mini-budget in Parliament as scheduled.

Speaking during an interview on Point Blank on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Thursday, Dr. Apaak criticized the government’s approach, labelling it as unacceptable and manipulative. “This is not how governance should be conducted,” he remarked, urging the government to prioritize national interest over political brinkmanship.

“From all indications, it is clear that the NPP side very strangely seems to think that it can use what Ghanaians expect all of us to do in the service of the nation as a bargaining chip somehow to try and get us to agree to a number of proposals that they want us to deal with, including the tax exemption, and I don’t think that is acceptable at all,” Dr Apaak stated.

He further criticised the finance minister for failing to present the mini-budget to Parliament, noting that this was the fourth day they had expected the minister to appear.

“I say so because this is the fourth day that we expected the minister to just simply appear in parliament, stand up and then bow in recognition of what he ought to do,” he added.