Former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO), Abdul-Wahab Hanan, has filed a strong challenge in court
Former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO), Abdul-Wahab Hanan, has filed a strong challenge in court against the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), insisting that several properties seized under a freezing order were either not his or were lawfully acquired years before he assumed public office.
The application for review, filed on 4 November 2025, seeks to overturn a 21 October 2025 order by Justice Kwame Gyamfi Osei of the Adentan High Court that confirmed EOCO’s request to freeze four properties said to belong to the former CEO.
According to EOCO, the properties suspected to be “tainted,” were allegedly acquired with proceeds from offences Hanan is currently standing trial for in the high-profile Buffer Stock financial case.
This led to multiple charges against Hanan, including stealing, money laundering, and causing financial loss to the state.
As part of their investigations, EOCO moved to identify, trace, and freeze assets believed to be linked to the alleged offences—a standard procedure under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (Act 804).
It was on this basis that the Office secured an ex parte freezing order on September 2, later confirmed by the High Court on October 21.
Properties Frozen by Court
The confirmation order listed the following properties:
1. 0.27-acre land at Estate Junction, Dagomba Street, Tamale (GPS: NS-320-6111)
2. 0.29-acre land at Workers College, Tamale (GPS: NR-000-8199)
3. An uncompleted storey building at Gumami, near Baobab Guest House, Tamale (GPS: NR-151-7759)
4. A three-bedroom house at Kpalsi, Tamale (GPS: NS-056-9690)
Hanan’s Defense: These Properties Were Acquired Before Public Office
In his affidavit, however, the former NAFCO boss called EOCO’s claims baseless, speculative, and legally unfounded, saying the Office had failed to prove that any of the listed properties were tainted or acquired through illicit means.
Hanan argued that at least one of the properties—the three-bedroom house at Kpalsi—was completed in 2013, a full four years before his appointment as CEO in 2017.
“I completed construction of the house in 2013 and performed part of my Islamic marriage ceremony there. This property has absolutely no connection to the period of alleged offences,” he stated.
He further contended that the uncompleted storey building at Gumami did not belong to him at all, insisting that he had no legal or beneficial interest in the structure and therefore it could not lawfully be frozen under his name.
On the 0.27-acre plot at Estate Junction, Hanan explained that the land belonged to Al-Qarni Enterprise, a business in which he has no interest. He added that Al-Qarni Enterprise transferred its interest in the property to OSGAF Furniture Enterprise in 2022, well before investigations began.
Legal Argument: EOCO Has Not Met the Requirements of the Law
Hanan’s lawyers, Dame & Partners, argue that EOCO failed to satisfy the legal threshold required under Act 804—which demands evidence that a property is tainted before a freezing order may be confirmed.
“EOCO bore the burden of establishing that the properties were tainted as a statutory precondition. They failed to do so,” the affidavit states.
Hanan further said that by freezing assets acquired years before his employment at NAFCO, EOCO had acted outside the scope of its mandate and violated his constitutional rights.
His argument centers on alleged breaches of:
Article 20 — Right to own property
Article 18 — Right to privacy
Article 19 — Presumption of innocence
Right to fair hearing
He described the freezing orders as “disproportionate, unconstitutional, and lacking evidential foundation.”
Reliefs Sought
The former CEO is asking the court to:
Review and set aside the October 21 freezing order
Declare the order null and void, citing EOCO’s failure to establish essential legal factors
Restore his constitutional rights by lifting the freeze on properties acquired before he joined public office
Next Court Date
Lawyers for Hanan are scheduled to move the motion on December 18, 2025, setting the stage for what is expected to be an important legal test on asset freezing procedures in the anti-corruption framework.
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