North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has accused officials of the outgoing Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government of rushing to approve dubious Midnight Contracts and ensuring full payments ahead of the January 7, 2025, transition.
He raised the alarm over a $750,000 (GHS12 million) electronic servicing agreement approved by the Board of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) just three days ago.
Ablakwa, in a post on X, alleged, “Intercepted memos continue to expose reckless and unpatriotic officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government for awarding sleazy midnight contracts and insisting on full payments before January 7, 2025.”
The MP claims that the ADB Board hurriedly approved the electronic servicing agreement with Virtual Security Africa despite the deal not undergoing scrutiny by the bank’s audit department. He further disclosed that negotiations with the vendor have not been concluded and that the main agreement is “still in draft form.”
“Deep throat sources at ADB tell me they are under extreme political pressure to effect full payment by tomorrow, the 27th of December, 2024,” Ablakwa stated in the post.
Top ADB insiders, according to him, are “shocked at the Board’s decision” to approve the deal under such circumstances, considering the lack of proper vetting and urgency in signing off.
Ablakwa described the situation as part of a larger trend of rushed transactions during the transition period, adding, “The mad rush for midnight contracts and payments has reached uncontrollable levels despite a clear caution from the President-elect’s Transition Team, a caution consistent with what the NPP demanded in 2016.”
He warned public officials against succumbing to political pressure to authorize payments, stating, “Fortunately, we have intercepted a considerable number of these internal memos on these dubious transactions, and the public officials who succumb to unlawful political pressure and effect payments will have themselves to blame after January 7, 2025.”
