The High Court has postponed to December 9, 2025, the taking of plea in the case involving former National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Mustapha Abdul Hamid, and nine others who are facing charges of extortion and money laundering.
The adjournment followed an administrative reassignment of the case from Criminal Court 3 to Criminal Court 4 after prosecutors filed additional charges, expanding the counts from 25 to 54.
Tuesday’s hearing could not proceed as planned because the new court had rescheduled the matter to its next available date. Dr. Hamid’s request for the release of his passport, which he said he needed to travel to Canada between November 17 and 23 for a political event, was also put on hold due to the court change. He is expected to renew that application when the case is called again.
In a separate development, Dr. Hamid has filed a GH¢20 million defamation suit against the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), accusing it of damaging his reputation with claims linking him to the alleged embezzlement of GH¢1.3 billion from the Unified Petroleum Price Fund (UPPF).
The suit, filed on November 10 at the High Court’s General Jurisdiction Division in Accra, seeks a declaration that the OSP’s public statement at a February 12 media briefing was false and defamatory. Dr. Hamid is demanding GH¢20 million in damages, a full apology, and a retraction of the statement. He is also asking for a perpetual injunction to prevent the OSP or its representatives from making further defamatory remarks about him.
In his statement of claim, the former NPA boss said the OSP had named him as one of four persons under investigation but had never informed him of any such probe before going public. He described the allegations as false, malicious, and baseless, adding that later events had proven no embezzlement took place.
Dr. Hamid said the OSP’s actions caused him humiliation, emotional distress, and loss of professional opportunities, including international consultancy and teaching engagements.
According to his lawyers at Applade Chambers, they had written to the OSP on February 17 demanding a retraction. Instead, the OSP replied two days later, directing Dr. Hamid to appear for questioning over alleged mismanagement of the fund.
The case over the alleged extortion and money laundering, along with the defamation suit, is expected to be closely watched as both matters unfold in the coming weeks.
