Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba
Lawyer for embattled former Chief Executive Officer of National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO), Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, have filed an application urging the court to compel the Attorney General (AG) and the Director of Bureau of National Intelligence (BNI), to produce his body following his Rambo-style arrest at the Accra International Airport.
An affidavit in support of the application sworn to by his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, avers that the embattled former government appointee has been denied access to counsel and his family since his arrest in the late hours of July 4, 2026.
His lawyers argue that the arrest and subsequent detention were merely calculated to defeat the orders of a High Court which had granted him leave to travel for medical treatment.
They further contend that the arrest at the airport was unlawful and in breach of Mr. Aludiba’s fundamental rights, as both the manner of the arrest and the reason subsequently assigned for same violate the constitution.
Arrest
Mr. Aludiba is standing trial with his wife Faiza Seidu Wuni for allegedly stealing and causing financial loss to the state totalling GH¢62.6 million.
He was arrested at the airport in the late of hours of July 4 when he attempted to travel to the United Kingdom for a medical reason.
Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, in a Facebook post, confirmed the arrest and claimed Mr. Aludiba, who was granted permission by the trial court to travel, attempted “to use false means to empty his frozen bank account with Republic Bank on Thursday which occasioned tonight’s arrest.”
His legal team lead by former Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, sharply denied the allegation and threatened to initiate contempt of court proceeding against the AG and the BNI Director for thwarting the orders of the court which permitted him to travel to London for medical reasons.
Habeas Corpus
They have subsequently filed an application for Habeas Corpus urging the court to compel the respondents to produce the former CEO since officers of the BNI have refused to grant both his family and his legal team access to him.
The affidavit in support pointed out that Mr. Aludiba was arrested by heavily armed men who identified themselves as BNI officers just when he was waiting to board a flight to London.
“He was not informed of the reasons for his arrest, nor was he informed of his rights, including his right to counsel, as required by Article 14 of the Constitution,” the affidavit avers.
The wife further avers that Mr. Aludiba upon his arrest placed a call to his lawyer, Mr. Dame, who requested to speak with the officers.
She alleges that the arresting officers refused to speak with the lawyer, “stating that they were there to carry out the instructions of their superiors to arrest the Applicant and not to speak with any lawyer.”
Madam Wuni further contends that there is no reasonable suspicion of her husband having committed any offence in the nature of what the Deputy Attorney General alleged in his Facebook post, thus violating the protection of the Applicant’s right to personal liberty guaranteed by the Constitution.
She said both her visit and that of her husband’s lawyers to the BNI facility to see him proved futile as they were told it was a weekend and they could not be allowed access to see him unless there was an “order from above.”
“That the officers we met at the BNI counter office boldly and repeatedly stated that they ‘do not work on weekends’ and that lawyers were not allowed to visit their clients who were in custody at the BNI cells except pursuant to orders from above,” the affidavit alleges.
She said the officers also refused to allow her to serve her husband with breakfast she had prepared for him because visitors were not allowed on weekends.
She also avers that calls as well as messages by Mr. Dame to the Director of BNI in an attempt to secure bail elicited no response “even though there was evidence that same had been read.”
Madam Wuni further alleges that the Attorney General and the BNI have failed to inform Mr. Aludiba or his lawyers of the specific offence known to the laws of Ghana alleged to have been committed by him.
The application is therefore asking the court to order the AG and BNI to produce Mr. Aludiba and also be allowed to travel to the United Kingdom for medical treatment.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak