Narcotics court allocation leads Ghana’s legal watch

Search Watch live Home News Politics Business Sports Entertainment Opinion Videos More NACOC: We've secured dedicated High Court now handling only narcotics cases The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) says it has secured a dedicated High Court to handle cases prosecuted by the Commission as part of efforts to strengthen the fight against narcotics offences.

Copy link Add 3News as your preferred source on Google Preferred source The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) says it has secured a dedicated High Court to handle cases prosecuted by the Commission as part of efforts to strengthen the fight against narcotics offences.

Deputy Director-General in charge of Enforcement, Control & Elimination at NACOC, Alexander Twum-Barimah said the dedicated court forms part of measures to address longstanding challenges that had affected the effective prosecution of narcotics cases.

Speaking on TV3's Hot Issues, Sunday, September 20, he said the Commission identified the need for a dedicated court to prevent narcotics cases from being scattered across different courts.

“There is the need for us to have a dedicated court. It is not out of place to do that. If we know what we are doing and we understand the work so well, there is no way you wish the cases you are prosecuting to be scattered,” he stated.

According to him, narcotics cases had previously been heard at different courts, citing Adenta Court 5 and Accra High Court 2.

“You have one in Adenta Court 5, one in Accra High Court 2, the cases scattered,” the speaker said.

He disclosed that the Commission subsequently engaged the Chief Justice to make a case for a dedicated court.

Twum-Barimah noted that the Commission, through the Interior Minister and the Director-General, met with the Chief Justice and other Supreme Court judges to explain the need for a dedicated court.

"So, today as I speak to you, through our Minister and the Director-General’s mission, we approached the Chief Justice and his team, other Supreme Court Judges were in that meeting with us.

"They interrogated us to understand why and we argued and defended our position, and at the end he answered to our call. As I speak to you now, we have a dedicated High Court that sits and handles only Narcotic Control Commission cases," he stressed.

According to him, the Narcotics Control Commission Act passed in 2020 transformed the Board into a Commission and gave it additional powers, including the ability to prosecute its own cases through dedicated prosecutors.

However, he explained that the provision was not implemented for four years by the NPP administration until the current leadership took steps to operationalise it.

“This Commission was supposed to be prosecuting its own cases by obtaining a fiat from the Attorney-General. This Commission, again in 2020, a law was passed that moved them from Board to Commission and by that they were given additional powers, and these powers include them prosecuting their own cases, i.e. having their own prosecutors,” he remarked.

“For four good years, this law lay down and was shelved and that step was never taken and as I speak to you, one and a half years in office, we have taken that step," he added.

He further raised concerns about what was described as inadequate resources provided to the Commission under the previous NPP administration.

“Eight good years of that government, five vehicles. Do you think with this you wanted this Commission to function effectively?” the speaker asked.

Twum-Barimah cited the North East Region as an example, saying the Commission previously had no vehicle in the region and only two officers were assigned to cover the entire region.

“How can you be fighting the drug menace in that region with only two officers?” the speaker questioned.

He emphasised that similar resource challenges existed in other regions, including the Western North Region.

#5 Presidential Drive, Adesa We, Kanda, Greater Accra. Ghana

The CEO of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, says the Authority is prepared to address turbulence in Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector as international market pressures continue to drive up fuel prices.

His comments come at a time when Ghana’s fuel market is facing renewed pressure from higher international prices for crude and refined petroleum products.

The NPA increased the price floor for petrol to GH¢16 per litre and diesel to GH¢16.77 per litre from September 16.

Some Oil Marketing Companies have since raised pump prices, with Star Oil pricing petrol at GH¢16.77 and diesel at GH¢17.77 per litre.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, Mr Tamakloe said his preparation for the job has always included the possibility of major disruptions in the petroleum market.

He said Ghana is largely dependent on imports for refined petroleum products, leaving the sector exposed to external shocks.

“Having to be the Chief Executive Officer of the downstream, I appreciated the fact that we are primarily import-dependent when it comes to refined petroleum products.”

He said this exposure means the industry can face turbulence whenever external conditions change.

“So, I’ve always been, you know, let me say, ready for the potential for turbulence.”

Mr Tamakloe said managing such pressures has therefore been part of his orientation since taking charge of the sector.

“It’s been part of the orientation that I’ve had personally, that you are going to, as it were, lead or take charge of an industry that is largely subject to, or, you know, will face turbulence at any time that exogenous or external factors change.”

He said effective leadership requires a response whether conditions are favourable or difficult.

“What I believe is that leadership in this particular instance, there are issues, and we believe that in good or bad times, you need to have a leadership response to both sides.”

The NPA boss said the Authority has been dealing with the current turbulence since February.

“And so, I would say that we are kind of ready, and from February till now, we’ve been trying to, as it were, manage the turbulence, manage the storm.”

He acknowledged the pressure facing the sector but said the response so far had been positive.

The Upper East Regional Police Command has retrieved weapons and motorbikes following the dismantling of a notorious robbery gang connected to a series of robbery attacks on motorbike riders and mobile money vendors across Benaba, Binduri, Pusiga, Garu, Zebilla, and surrounding communities.

The incident occurred when the Police team, together with the suspects, went to a location in the Tilly Forest where the gang had indicated their rifles were concealed.

During the operation, the team came under gunfire, resulting in injuries to three suspects: Amadu Apiiga, aged 33; Philip Vokbilla; and Bilal Adabode, alias Sulley, who led the Police to the location.

They were subsequently conveyed to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead on arrival. Other persons believed to have sustained gunshot wounds fled the scene. Two Police officers also got injured and are receiving medical attention.

The suspects have also been linked to the murder of a Police officer during a robbery at Zebilla on February 8, 2026.

Items retrieved during the operations include two locally manufactured single barrel guns, two pistols, including a BRUNI 92 pistol with eleven 9mm rounds of ammunition, eighteen BB live cartridges, three sharp cutlasses, four unregistered Yamaha Aerox scooters, a pair of black boots, a motorbike number plate, and two mobile phones.

The Police urged the public to report any persons found with gunshot wounds to the nearest police station.

The remaining six members of the gang who were earlier arrested are in custody assisting with investigations, while efforts are ongoing to identify and arrest the remaining members of the gang and trace the source of their weapons.

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--> Make your preference count — choose Punch. Add Punch on Google Foundation presses Tinubu on Federal Audit Service Bill News September 21, 2026 12:31 am President Bola Tinubu. Photo: State House

The AdvoKC Foundation has renewed its call on President Bola Tinubu to assent to the Federal Audit Service Bill, saying continued delays in signing the legislation are leaving Nigeria’s supreme audit institution without control over critical aspects of its finances and administration. In a statement obtained by The PUNCH on Sunday, the foundation said the Auditor-General for the Federation currently depends on other government institutions for budget allocation, the release of appropriated funds and the management of its personnel, a structure it said undermines the independence required to effectively scrutinise public spending. The statement was signed by the organisation’s communications manager, Luqman Adamu. The renewed call came after the United States Department of State’s 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report again assessed Nigeria against international standards for fiscal transparency, while the International Monetary Fund’s 2026 assessment of the Nigerian economy also highlighted the need for stronger public financial management, transparency and accountability. AdvoKC said the developments had reinforced concerns it raised in July when it wrote to the Presidency and publicly urged Tinubu to sign the Federal Audit Service Bill, which has been passed by both chambers of the National Assembly. The foundation’s Project Director, Habib Sheidu, said the issue had become more urgent because the weaknesses identified in Nigeria’s audit system were having practical consequences for the government’s ability to monitor public expenditure. “When we wrote to the Presidency in July, we made the case on the numbers alone,” Sheidu said in a statement. “Two months on, the numbers have been joined by a second international verdict, by the Auditor-General’s own account of what it cannot do without funding it doesn’t control, and by a former Vice President turning this into a campaign issue. “None of that required imagination. It only required watching what happens when a Bill both chambers have passed sits on a desk long enough,” the statement added. The foundation said the latest US assessment was significant because the report, which covered fiscal transparency practices during the 2025 calendar year, evaluated 139 governments and the Palestinian Authority against minimum standards. See more Punch stories on Google. Add Punch on Google According to AdvoKC, 73 of the assessed governments met the required standard, while Nigeria failed to meet it for the second consecutive year. The foundation linked the assessment to the institutional structure governing Nigeria’s audit office, arguing that the Auditor-General cannot exercise effective oversight when key resources required to conduct audits remain under the control of other government bodies. Under the existing arrangement, the Budget Office of the Federation determines the audit office’s budget allocation, while the Ministry of Finance controls the release of funds. The Federal Civil Service Commission, rather than the Auditor-General, is responsible for recruitment, promotion and disciplinary matters involving the office’s personnel. AdvoKC said the Federal Audit Service Bill is intended to alter that arrangement by giving the audit institution greater control over its finances and personnel. The foundation said the issue was not merely administrative, arguing that inadequate funding directly affects the scope of audits that the Auditor-General can undertake. It cited disclosures made by lawmakers in February that only four per cent of the Auditor-General’s approved 2025 capital allocation had been released. Related News Nigeria’s energy crisis killing business Catholic bishops reject foreign aid bill Bolivia ends diesel subsidy According to the foundation, the funding constraint meant that the Auditor-General’s office could audit only five of Nigeria’s approximately 100 foreign missions during the relevant audit cycle. For an institution responsible for examining the use of public funds across federal ministries, departments and agencies, the foundation said, the figures demonstrated the consequences of leaving the audit office dependent on other institutions for access to its approved resources. AdvoKC also pointed to the Mexico Declaration of Independence, an international standard developed under the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions, which calls for supreme audit institutions to have sufficient financial and administrative independence to discharge their responsibilities. The foundation argued that Nigeria’s present arrangement falls short of that principle because the Auditor-General does not have full control over the three areas it considers fundamental to institutional independence: budget, funding release and personnel. The call for presidential assent comes as Nigeria continues to face scrutiny over the management and disclosure of public finances. The IMF, in its 2026 assessment of Nigeria, identified improvements in public financial management, fiscal reporting, transparency and accountability among areas requiring continued reform. The Fund also noted the status of the Federal Audit Service legislation, stating that the Federal Audit Service Act had been passed by the National Assembly and was awaiting presidential assent. AdvoKC said the convergence of the domestic funding problem with international assessments made the case for reform more immediate. “What should concentrate attention in the Villa is that the IMF and the US State Department did not coordinate their findings, examine the same data, or share a common methodology,” the foundation said. “One reviewed fiscal aggregates; the other assessed institutional transparency practice against a global benchmark,” it added. The foundation said the significance of the two assessments was therefore not that they reached an identical conclusion, but that both had kept questions of public financial management, transparency and institutional accountability in focus while Nigeria’s audit reform legislation remained unsigned. AdvoKC said presidential assent would also need to be followed by concrete implementation measures. It asked Tinubu to direct the constitution of the Federal Audit Board within 90 days of assent and establish a public timetable for appointing the Director-General of the proposed Federal Audit Service. The foundation also called for a plain-language summary of the legislation to be published after assent, saying citizens should be able to track how the new framework is implemented. “AdvoKC Foundation reiterates the request it made in July: that President Tinubu assent to the Federal Audit Service Bill without further delay,” the statement said. It added that the implementation of the legislation should be sufficiently transparent to allow Nigerians to monitor whether the institutional independence envisaged by the law was actually achieved. The foundation said the issue ultimately went beyond the passage of another piece of legislation, arguing that an audit institution expected to scrutinise government expenditure must itself have adequate resources and administrative independence to perform that responsibility. Ayoola Babalola