The former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food Buffer Stock Company, Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, has petitioned the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General (A-G), Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, regarding his ongoing trial.
Abdul-Wahab has accused the A-G’s office and other state security agencies of subjecting him to sustained harassment, unlawful detention and torture, since the commencement of his prosecution.
According to him, he had to proceed on the petition to the A-G because attention was not given to an earlier letter from his lawyers to the Minister, where complaints about alleged violations of his rights and unlawful seizure of his money by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) were raised.
In the letter dated Friday, July 17, 2026, Abdul-Wahab maintained that he is innocent of all the charges levelled against him, insisting he has committed no offence and affirmed his willingness to submit himself before any fair judicial process to clear his name.
He said he retains full confidence in the judiciary, but accused the Attorney-General’s office, EOCO and the Bureau of National Intelligence (BNI) of systematically denying him due process.
In his petition, he recounted his initial arrest on June 25, 2025, and kept at the EOCO custody for more than two weeks, in what he describes as an unjustified bail condition of GHC60 million.
Also, a press conference organised by the Attorney-General condemning him publicly before charges were even filed, Abdul-Wahab says, amounted to a violation of his constitutional rights to be presumed innocent until proven guilty as contained in Article 19(2) of the 1992 Constitution.
Following the subsequent charges against him before the High Court, Criminal Court 4, presided over by Justice Kocuvie-Tay, where he pleaded not guilty and was granted bail of GHc100 million with six sureties, four of whom were required to provide landed property, the former NAFCO boss described these conditions as manifestly unreasonable and oppressive.
In his petition, he said all charges against him were withdrawn on May 5, 2026, roughly seven months into the trial, following successful legal challenges to procedural irregularities in the prosecution’s case.
He alleged that immediately after his discharge, EOCO officers, accompanied by armed commandos in balaclavas, stormed the court premises and rearrested him, despite his consistent cooperation with the authorities throughout the case.
He further alleged that his lawyers were obstructed from seeing him at EOCO’s offices following this rearrest, and that he was taken to hospital for an illness without his family or lawyers being informed, despite them being present and waiting.
He noted that he was eventually released around 9 p.m. on May 6, 2026, without having been questioned, and was only interviewed by EOCO the following day.
Abdul-Wahab indicated that he was re-arraigned at the Specialised Court about 11 days later, presided over by Justice Francis A. Achibonga. On June 29, 2026, he said the High Court permitted him to travel to the United Kingdom for a scheduled medical appointment, after being satisfied there was nothing to suggest he would not return to stand trial. He was ordered to leave by July 4 and return by July 12.
The petition says while he was preparing to board his flight on July 4, 2026, at the Accra International Airport, having cleared immigration and security checks, he was apprehended by armed BNI operatives. The act, he describes as a blatant violation of the subsisting court order permitting his travel.
According to Abdul-Wahab said he was then held for four days without charge, first in BNI custody and later transferred to EOCO, during which time he alleges the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr. Justice Edem Srem-Sai, publicised claims on social media that he had attempted to withdraw funds from a frozen bank account.
Till date, he says the A-G has not been able to provide evidence, including which account, what amount, or the method allegedly used, and has denied the allegation levelled against him.
EOCO imposed a fresh bail condition of GHC5 million with two sureties, according to Abdul-Wahab, with two sureties, following his transfer from BNI custody, which he described as excessive and calculated to frustrate his release, and that he was denied access to his lawyers for most of the four-day detention.
The petition alleges that EOCO has continued to unlawfully withhold some of his belongings following his release, including £6,700 in borrowed travel and medical funds, his two mobile phones, and his passport, which is required to be deposited with the court registrar. He further claimed that his phones were accessed without judicial authorisation on July 6 and July 7, while they were in BNI and EOCO custody.
Describing the pattern of arrests and releases as a “catch and release” strategy, Abdul-Wahab said he had been arrested and released four times since the case against him began, and questioned whether the actions taken against him were motivated by a personal grudge rather than any genuine prosecutorial purpose.
In his prayers to the Attorney-General, Abdul-Wahab requested that public officials refrain from further comments prejudicial to his case, that all future actions in the matter respect the rule of law and constitutional rights, and that EOCO and BNI be directed to halt what he described as a pattern of harassment against him and his family.
He also demanded the immediate return of his passport, phones, borrowed funds and other personal belongings held by EOCO. The petition was copied to the Chief Justice at the Judicial Service in Accra.
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