Former NAFCO CEO challenges EOCO property freeze

Former Chief Executive of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company, Abdul-Wahab Hanan, has turned to the High Court to challenge a freezing order placed on four of his properties by the Economic and Organised Crime Office.

He insists the order is unlawful and targets assets that either predate his time in office or have no link to him.

In an affidavit supporting his application, Hanan argues that EOCO breached his constitutional rights by securing the order without allowing him to respond.

He says the properties involved include a three-bedroom house at Kpalsi in Tamale, an uncompleted storey building at Gumani, a 0.27-acre plot at Estate Junction, and a 0.29-acre plot at Workers College, all in Tamale.

Hanan maintains that the house in Kpalsi was acquired in 2011 and completed in 2013, long before he joined NAFCO, and even served as part of the venue for his Islamic marriage ceremony.

According to him, this makes any suggestion of criminal connection unfounded. He further contends that he has no interest in the Gumani property and that the Estate Junction plot belongs to Al-Qarni Enterprise, which transferred it to OSGAF Furniture Enterprise in 2022.

He accuses EOCO of acting without any “legal or factual basis whatsoever,” adding that the agency also violated his rights during his arrest on 25 June 2025.

Hanan claims he was held for two weeks and that his homes in Accra and Tamale were searched without a warrant.

“I was never given a fair chance to respond before my properties were targeted,” he said.

Hanan states that EOCO has not shown that any of the properties are connected to criminal proceeds.

The High Court will hear his application to review the freezing order on 18 December.