Accra: Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, has announced that Mr. Hanan Abdul-Wahab, the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited, along with three other individuals, will be charged with multiple offenses on Friday, October 24, 2025. This announcement was made during the Governance Accountability Series press conference at the Presidency in Accra.
According to Ghana News Agency, Dr. Ayine disclosed that Mr. Abdul-Wahab and his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, had acquired properties from the proceeds of criminal activities between 2018 and 2024, with Mr. Abdul-Wahab also being implicated in money laundering activities. The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) had gathered substantial intelligence by March 20, 2025, regarding a criminal enterprise operated by Mr. Abdul-Wahab, leading to the arrest and detention of suspects Kwabena Adu Boahene and his wife, Angela Boateng.
Initial estimates suggested that Mr. Abdul-Wahab and his collaborators misappropriated approximately GHS58 million, surpassing the GHS49 million allegedly stolen by Mr. Kwabena Adu Boahene and his associates. The Attorney-General referred to the criminal operations, dubbed 'the Rumble in the Jungle,' emphasizing the financial magnitude and its impact on food suppliers who faced payment challenges, subsequently affecting the School Feeding Programme and denying school children essential nutrition.
Dr. Ayine elaborated on the extensive investigations conducted by EOCO, which uncovered this illicit enterprise run by corrupt officials at the Buffer Stock Company. On June 25, 2025, EOCO executed a coordinated operation resulting in the arrests of Mr. Abdul-Wahab, his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, and James Atieku, the Northern Sector Buffer Stock Manager based in Tamale. Emmanuel Arthur, Head of Corporate Affairs of NAFCO, was also apprehended during this operation.
The arrests followed EOCO's initial intelligence and assessments, which revealed that between 2017 and 2024, Mr. Abdul-Wahab colluded with his wife and other officials, including Richard Sam Asante and Bismark Owusu Boakye from the Finance Department, to create an elaborate scheme to embezzle and launder public funds. Over GHS78 million was transferred from Buffer Stock Company accounts into private entities linked to Mr. Abdul-Wahab and his associates.
Evidence showed that between December 2017 and May 2019, Mr. Abdul-Wahab funneled GHC 5,495,748.36 from Buffer Stock Company accounts to two bank accounts under Aludiba Enterprise, a company he owned but was not a registered supplier. Further evidence indicated that from October 2019 to January 2022, Mr. Abdul-Wahab facilitated the transfer of over GHS11 million to an entity owned by a Buffer Stock Company staff member, later instructing the re-transfer of these funds to a company owned by himself and his wife.
