Dumelo made this controversial remark during TV3’s Community Watch programme, suggesting that Lydia might have been involved in her husband’s death to secure her position as MP.
His statement was triggered by NPP supporters who were chanting about the V8 saga during his submission.
He stated, "I want to say something. I can see their supporters have been mentioning V8, V8, V8. If that is the case, then it is also fair to say that maybe Lydia is the one who killed her husband to become MP. That is it, because if they want to go that tangent, I can also go the same tangent. If they want to go that tangent, I will go the same tangent because this time around, it is boot for boot."
This comment sparked outrage, particularly on social media platform X, where users heavily criticised him.
In response to the backlash, Dumelo took to X to apologise and retract his statement, saying, "I apologise and retract the comments I made earlier today on TV3."
After the death of Emmanuel Kwabena Kyeremanteng Agyarko in 2018, Alhassan replaced her spouse and has faced some harsh allegations claiming his passing had been orchestrated.
She won the 2019 Ayawaso West by-election with 68.80 percent of the valid votes cast while the other candidates, Kwasi Delali Brempong of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) polled 30.52 percent, William Kofi Dowokpor of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and Clement Boadi of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) polled 0.58 and 0.10 percent respectively Administration.
In 2020, she successfully contested in the general elections on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party and won against Ghanaian celebrity and NDC candidate John Dumelo, polling 9,851 of the valid votes cast.