OSP reaffirms seriousness of charges against former NPA Boss

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has issued a strong rebuttal to comments attributed to the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, after he reportedly dismissed his ongoing corruption trial as “useless.”

The OSP underscored in a Facebook statement on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, the gravity and legitimacy of the case, describing it as a substantive prosecution grounded in robust financial and transactional evidence.

Dr Abdul-Hamid, who served as NPA CEO between 2021 and 2024, faces multiple criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit extortion by a public officer, extortion, abuse of public office for profit, and money laundering.

According to the OSP, Dr Abdul-Hamid and two other senior NPA officials are alleged to have solicited and received more than GH¢291 million and over US$330,000 from bulk oil transporters and marketing companies between December 2022 and December 2024.

The charges also include the unlawful receipt of GH¢24 million and GH¢230,000, as well as the possession of GH¢15.3 million in assets that investigators believe cannot be justified by his legitimate income.

The OSP further disclosed that assets valued at over GH¢100 million and more than US$100,000 have already been seized or frozen, with additional properties still under tracing as part of the ongoing financial recovery process.

The statement framed the case as a litmus test of Ghana’s commitment to accountability and institutional integrity, emphasising that no public official is above the law.

The matter resumes at the Criminal High Court in Accra on Thursday, November 13, 2025, a date the OSP described as “symbolically significant in Ghana’s quest to entrench transparency and good governance.”