I did not order military men into Parliamentary chamber - Dominic Nitiwul 'clears' his name

He said he had no power to call in the military at that time because he wasn't the Defence Minister.

Speaking at the Appointments Committee in Parliament, the nominee denied the allegation levelled against him by NDC MP for Tamale Central, Murtala Mohammed.

“It is not a true story. I did not have the capacity to move the military, Murtala is my friend and he knows. I have not spoken to him for a long time. I didn’t go to any place. I only went to urinate and came back. I was sitting with him and the independent candidate. But the military like I said are the most professional”, he said.

He also declined to confirm or deny identity of the commander of the armed men after it was mentioned by Okudzeto Ablakwa.

“In the military I would advise unless it is very necessary, I will be wrong to be mentioning names of commanders and their actions. Colonel Punami is the head of the presidential protecting team at the jubilee house," he said.

On the eve of the election of the new Speaker of Parliament, military men stormed the chamber to restore calm after a fight broke out between the lawmakers.

Murtala Mohammed later told the media: "Dominic Nitiwul called the Military into the chamber, armed Military men. They were armed to the teeth and that is completely unacceptable. I was there when he was making the call, and I confronted him. I asked him whether he didn’t feel embarrassed about what he was doing… he may lie but I wasn’t the only person there… I have witnesses he made the call in the chamber.”

He further noted that: “Never in our history have we had armed military men deployed into the chamber. It was completely unacceptable, the Minister for Defence made that call; when he was making the call, I told him it wasn’t necessary because it will be a blur on the integrity of this House.”