The Economics and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) has apologised to the High Court in Adentan for failing to respond expeditiously to a suit seeking to unfreeze certain assets of former National Buffer Stock Chief Executive Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, whose assets were frozen pursuant to a court order obtained by the Office.
Mr Hanan is before the Adentan High Court seeking to overturn the freezing orders obtained by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) on specific properties of his, which were acquired well before he was appointed CEO of the Buffer Stock Company.
The properties include a three-bedroom house in Tamale, which, according to EOCO, is evidence of his involvement in the crimes.
However, the property was acquired in 2013 and served as the venue for his Islamic marriage that year.
He was appointed CEO of the Buffer Stock Company in 2017.
Other properties he has asked the court to declare as unlawfully frozen include three parcels of undeveloped land and an uncompleted property.
Mr Hannan contended that freezing the properties is unlawful and an affront to his rights to acquire property, to privacy, to a fair hearing, and to the presumption of innocence.
At the sitting of the Court on Thursday, 18 December 2025, lawyers for the EOCO, led by Brew-Sam, informed the court that ‘administrative bottlenecks” within the office had prevented them from filing their response in time, and that they filed it only the day before.
The prosecution, therefore, prayed the court for an adjournment to enable the applicant’s lawyers to peruse EOCO’s response once it is served on them appropriately.
The court granted the prosecution’s prayer and adjourned the case to 20 January 2026 for the hearing of the application.
AG fails to file evidence
In a related development, the Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine, had failed to file by the last adjourned court date his disclosures in the case of the Republic v. Hanan Abdul-Wahab, former Chief Executive Officer of the Buffer Stock Company, Abdul Wahab Hanan Aludiba, and three others (the Buffer Stock Case), some three months after the State filed criminal charges against the accused persons.
This is despite a press conference in October 2025 during which he effectively pronounced the accused guilty before both local and international media. However, three months on, the Attorney-General has failed to file witness statements as part of the trial disclosures when the case was called in court on Tuesday, 16 December 2025.
Disclosures require the Attorney General to surrender to the defence all the documents and exhibits they will be relying on to prosecute their case.
This will enable defence lawyers to prepare their defence to the charges brought against their client. Richard Gyambiby of Dame and Partners, who represents Hanan, said his client is ready for trial and has been waiting for the disclosures to prepare a defence.
“We firmly believe in the innocence of our client and will mount a zealous defence in his favour. The prosecution bears the onus to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hanan used his office to steal from the public and cause loss to the Republic.
“We are convinced that the alleged acts could not have occurred under the accountability system that prevailed at Buffer Stock,” the defence lawyer, Richard Gyambiby, said.
Evidence challenges
Meanwhile, a source close to EOCO, who requested anonymity, told this news outlet that EOCO is struggling with witness testimony despite an over-the-top press engagement by the AG, in which he labelled his disclosure to the media as the “Rumble in the Jungle.”
At the Press conference on October 22nd, 2025, Dr. Ayine detailed what he called an elaborate scheme to pilfer from the state and launder the proceeds of crime by acquiring real estate and luxury items.
On October 28, Dr. Ayine said 24 charges, including Stealing, Money Laundering, and causing financial loss to the state, had been levelled against Dr. Hanan and his wife.
However, the source said, “gathering the evidence has become tough. We are also finding that what we thought was foolproof is no longer foolproof, which has accounted for the delays.
This is a critical case for Dr. Ayine because his personal credibility is at stake. He was widely criticised and praised in the media following the press conference, and he seeks to ensure that the case proceeds expeditiously in court. However, prosecution is a matter of evidence, and we are struggling to come up with what will stand in court,” the source said.
