The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) says it is considering a request from one of the accused persons in the ongoing trial involving the former National Petroleum Authority (NPA) CEO, Mustapha Abdul Hamid, and nine other accused persons to serve as a prosecution witness.

Providing an update on Tuesday, March 10, the OSP said that the fourth accused person in the case has approached the office expressing willingness to cooperate with the prosecution.

"Today in court, the prosecution announced that the fourth accused has approached the office expressing willingness to serve as a prosecution witness. The office is currently considering his request," the OSP said.

Dr Hamid is standing trial together with nine co-accused persons, including senior officials and associated companies.

They are facing 54 criminal counts, including extortion, abuse of public office, and money laundering.

• Read also: Mustapha Hamid, 9 others charged with extorting over GH¢291m from oil companies

Criminal charges were filed against the former NPA boss and nine others, including former and current officials of the NPA and three private companies, over an alleged conspiracy to extort more than GH¢291 million from players in the petroleum sector.

According to the prosecution, the accused persons, acting together between December 2022 and December 2024, illegally obtained GH¢291,574,087.19 and US$332,407.47 from bulk oil transporters and oil marketing companies, despite knowing they had no lawful authority to do so.

• Read also: OSP seizes fuel stations, luxury apartments, cash in GH¢291m NPA extortion case

Those charged include Jacob Kwamina Amuah, former Coordinator of the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF); Wendy Newman, an NPA audit staffer; Albert Ankrah, Isaac Mensah, Bright Bediako-Mensah, and Kwaku Aboagye Acquaah.

The companies cited in the case are Propnest Limited, KEL Logistics Limited, and Kings Energy Limited.