NDC Deputy General Secretary Mustapha Gbande has admitted instructing the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to arrest Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah.

He said the instruction was not related to the MP’s role as lawyer for senior nursing officer Salomey Awiti-Baffoe, as has been suggested.

“I told him to arrest him. I wouldn’t lie about it,” Mr Gbande said on JoyNews.

He said his instruction followed concerns about the conduct of the MP and was based on the view that no one should defy an invitation from a law enforcement agency.

“I met the EOCO boss; I told him to arrest the guy. Let the whole world come to an end. Arrest him,” he said.

Mr Gbande said Baffour Awuah should have honoured the invitation, made the necessary statement and left, rather than hold a press conference over the matter.

The controversy over the MP’s arrest began on September 23, 2026, when EOCO officials attempted to take him into custody at the Accra High Court.

EOCO said the attempted arrest formed part of an ongoing investigation and followed two invitations issued to the MP in February 2026, which it said he had not honoured.

The agency said the operation was eventually abandoned because officers assessed that continuing could endanger public safety.

Baffour Awuah disputed EOCO’s account. He said the officer who approached him at the High Court did not initially provide identification, proof of authority or an arrest warrant.

He also said he offered to drive himself to EOCO but became suspicious when the officer insisted he use their vehicle.

The matter escalated on September 30 when the High Court authorised EOCO to arrest Baffour Awuah, as well as search for and seize documents relevant to its investigation.

The court directed that the warrant be executed through the Speaker of Parliament.

EOCO told the court that its investigation concerns alleged unauthorised financial transactions involving SIC Life Savings and Loans, including suspected financial loss, dissipation of public funds and money laundering.

Baffour Awuah has disputed aspects of EOCO’s account. He explained that his former law firm had represented SIC Life Savings and Loans in recovering funds invested with another financial institution.

Following the warrant, Baffour Awuah reported himself to EOCO on October 1, accompanied by his lawyers and some MPs.

He was subsequently charged with three offences and granted GH¢10 million bail with two sureties after pleading not guilty. The case is scheduled to continue on October 26.

Against this background, Mr Gbande rejected the argument that an enforcement agency must publicly announce an intended arrest before taking action.

“There’s no law that says that when a law enforcement agency is doing its work, it should come to media houses and tell them that I’m going to arrest somebody,” he said.

He also said no political office-holder should consider themselves above the law because of their position.

“Never should I sit anywhere and say that because I am a deputy general secretary of a party, I am bigger than the laws of Ghana,” he said.

Mr Gbande maintained that if Baffour Awuah had committed an offence, the appropriate law enforcement authorities had the right to investigate and take the necessary action.