Former Attorney-General and lawyer for former National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, Godfred Yeboah Dame, says he never used the Office of the Attorney-General to suppress the fundamental rights of any citizen during his tenure.

Mr Aludiba was arrested at the Accra International Airport on Saturday night while preparing to travel to the United Kingdom, despite having secured permission from the High Court for the trip.

Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Justice Srem Sai, has said the arrest followed intelligence that Mr Aludiba had allegedly attempted to withdraw funds from a frozen bank account before leaving the country.

The former NAFCO CEO is standing trial on charges of stealing and causing financial loss to the Republic, but his arrest has sparked growing legal and political controversy, with his lawyers and political allies insisting that his rights have been unlawfully violated.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Monday, July 6, he drew a contrast between the current developments in his client's case and his own time in office, insisting that he never ordered the violation of any person’s rights or prevented any individual from travelling abroad.

“I, with all respect, served in that office, and never — I can beat my chest on no authority — never did I engage in such an act. On no occasion did I ever impede a person from travelling out of the nation,” he said.

“Neither did I issue any order at all to kill any fundamental human rights of any citizen in the country. Never.”

Mr Dame further challenged anyone to produce evidence that he had ever instructed any state security or investigative agency to curtail the rights of a citizen while he served as Attorney-General.

“I challenge anybody to produce evidence of an order that I issued to the Police, OSP, BNI, EOCO or any other law enforcement agency directing them to curtail a person’s fundamental rights. Never. You will not find me. It is not my nature, and there is no such record,” he added.

Mr Dame strongly criticised the circumstances surrounding Mr Aludiba’s arrest, describing it as unlawful and vowing to pursue legal action over what he said were violations of his client’s rights.

“Even after Hanan has been released, we will also file an application for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights to ensure that those who trampled his fundamental rights actually pay damages for that,” he said.

Mr Dame argued that such conduct must not be normalised, warning that the implications extend beyond the former NAFCO boss’s case.

“All these things must stop. What we are seeing is substandard. The whole nation, with all respect, is declining in a very steep manner, and I think that if this can happen to Hanan, it can happen to any other person in the country,” he stated.

He maintained that the arrest of Mr Aludiba had no legal basis and insisted the allegation that his client attempted to withdraw money from a frozen bank account was untenable.

He disclosed that the legal team is also considering contempt proceedings against officials directly involved in the arrest and detention, in addition to the planned human rights enforcement action.

“I think that this case ought to stop. And yes, that will also lead to the process of contempt, which of course is to ensure that those who directly engage in these unlawful acts are also punished. And we also have records for that,” he said.