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Former Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, has vehemently denied corruption charges filed against him by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in connection with an alleged GH₵280 million extortion and money laundering scandal.
A statement issued by his legal team, dated 17 July and signed by Hanifa Yahaya, Esq, categorically refuted the allegations levelled by the OSP, emphasising Dr Abdul-Hamid’s readiness to vigorously contest the charges in court.
Dr Abdul-Hamid, along with six (6) other individuals and three (3) companies, faces a total of 25 charges, including extortion by a public officer and money laundering. These charges follow investigations launched by the OSP in late 2024.
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According to the OSP, between 2022 and December 2024, the first three accused individuals—allegedly acting under the guise of official duties—engineered a criminal operation through which they extorted GH₵280,516,127.19 from petroleum transporters and oil marketing companies.
The OSP claims that the scheme was initiated by Dr Abdul-Hamid and executed by co-accused persons Amuah and Newman, despite having no legal basis. It is alleged to be a blatant abuse of their positions within the NPA.
Further, the OSP asserts that from the extorted amount, Amuah personally handed GH₵24 million in cash to Dr Abdul-Hamid between January and December 2024. Additionally, GH₵227.2 million was reportedly channelled through Newman, under Amuah’s direction, for further disbursement.
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However, Dr Abdul-Hamid’s legal team questioned the consistency and credibility of the OSP’s evolving allegations, referencing an earlier press conference in February 2025. At the time, the OSP had accused their client of embezzling GH₵1.3 billion from the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF).
They challenged the drastic revision of both the charges and the amount involved:
That, we further note that the allegation has now changed from (i) embezzlement from the UPPF, (ii) mismanagement of the UPPF, (iii) procurement breaches to the current one, which is extortion of funds from unnamed victims. And, the amount involved in the allegations against our client has also changed from GHS1.3 billion to GHS280 million.
The legal team also dismissed claims that Dr Abdul-Hamid was the mastermind behind the alleged extortion scheme:
That, our client categorically denies initiating or being involved in any extortion scheme, either directly or indirectly, in any form or manner. And further denies receiving any personal benefit from any such alleged extortion.
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They maintained that during his four-year tenure as NPA boss, Dr Abdul-Hamid discharged his duties with “utmost integrity and competence”, noting that:
The internet is replete with positive testimonies from industry players of our client’s sterling leadership of the NPA.
Meanwhile, Dr Abdul-Hamid and the nine (9) other accused persons are scheduled to appear before the Criminal Division 3 of the Accra High Court on Wednesday, 23 July 2025, to answer to the charges.
