By Nadia Ntiamoah
The ongoing standoff between the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, former Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has taken a dramatic twist following a public clarification from the OSP that none of the assets it listed as seized belong to Dr. Hamid—either directly or indirectly.
This latest clarification follows days of confusion and heated exchanges between the OSP and Dr. Hamid’s legal team after a viral video sparked renewed attention to the OSP’s case involving alleged financial irregularities at the NPA.
The Video That Sparked the Controversy
The saga began when a video circulated online showing Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid casually remarking that his matter in an apparent reference to his ongoing case was “useless.”
The clip, captured at the court premises and shared widely by Ghana Eye, quickly gained traction on social media.
That remark caught the attention of the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng who took to social media to cite the video, restate the OSP’s case against Dr. Hamid and nine others, and detail the scope of alleged financial losses in what it described as a “grand extortion and money-laundering scheme.”
According to the OSP’s initial statement, Dr. Hamid was alleged to have played a “leading role in a scheme that caused the state and the petroleum sector losses exceeding US$290 million and over US$330,000.”
The statement further claimed that the OSP had already “seized and frozen assets valued at more than GH¢100 million and over US$100,000, with additional assets under active tracing.”
Lawyers Fight Back
The OSP’s comments were widely interpreted to mean that those assets were directly linked to Dr. Hamid.
His legal team swiftly issued a statement rejecting that interpretation.
In their response, the lawyers stated: “As counsel for Dr. Abdul-Hamid, we wish to place on record emphatically and without ambiguity that no assets or businesses belonging to or associated with our client have been identified, traced, or seized by the OSP. Our client owns no such assets directly or indirectly, and no property worth the stated amount exists anywhere in connection with him.”
They also revealed that Dr. Hamid had already declared all his personal assets to the OSP, consisting of only two houses—one located in Tamale and another in Accra.
The OSP’s List of Seized Assets
In an apparent response to the lawyers’ statement, the OSP published a comprehensive list of assets it claimed had been seized in connection with the ongoing NPA investigation. These included:
Several silo trucks and fuel tankers, including two 2024-registered vehicles.
Multiple articulator heads and trailers. A Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 SUV. Undeveloped lands in Accra and other parts of the country.
A studio apartment located at Atlas Suites, Roman Ridge, Accra.
Additional lands and properties, totaling about 18 to 19 separate parcels, still under judicial confirmation.
According to the OSP, some of these assets had already been confirmed by the court for seizure, while others remained under application pending judicial approval.
Clarification from the OSP
However, as public scrutiny intensified, the OSP’s Director of Communications and Strategy Sammy Darko stepped forward to clarify the matter, stating that the office had never explicitly said that those assets belonged to Dr. Hamid.
The clarification came after legal representatives of Dr. Hamid accused the OSP of creating a false impression that their client’s properties had been frozen.
The OSP emphasized that the public might have “misconstrued the statement”, and that no ownership had been attributed to Dr. Hamid in the list of assets.
