The 1st Deputy Speaker of , , affectionately called Joe Wise, stated in an interview with investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni that a justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana called him and told him that President wanted him to become the Speaker of Ghana's 8th . Joe Wise said that the judge, whose name he withheld, told him Akufo-Addo wanted him to be the speaker nominee of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) because of the hung nature of the 8th , which had 137 NPP parliamentarians, 137 National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentarians, and one independent member of parliament. The first deputy speaker indicated that the president instructed him to support and guide the judge through the process for the speakership election. "A Supreme Court judge actually called me and said the President had asked him to contact me, and that the President wanted to retain the speakership in , and because of how close the numbers were, he decided to present that particular person (the Supreme Court judge who called)," he is quoted to have said. When Manasseh Azure asked him whether the said judge was Justice Jones Mawulorm Dotse, Joe Wise retorted, "Well, I said a Supreme Court judge," after a brief hesitation and chuckle. Joe Wise, the Member of for Ashanti Bekwai, went on to say that he informed the then Speaker of , Prof Aaron Mike Ocquaye, of what was happening, and the rest is history. "When he told me, I spoke to the leadership, and I spoke to Prof.