I never ignored EOCO - Baffour Awuah

The Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, has rejected the Economic and Organised Crime Office’s (EOCO) claim that he ignored invitations to assist with an ongoing investigation.

According to the MP, the EOCO invitation was not issued to him as the subject of an investigation, but to him in his former capacity as Senior Partner of Sarkodie Baffour Awuah & Partners, a law firm representing SIC Life Savings and Loans Company Limited.

His response follows an attempted arrest by EOCO officials at the Accra High Court yesterday, with the anti-graft agency maintaining that the action was part of lawful steps to secure his attendance in an ongoing investigation.

EOCO has said the MP was invited on two occasions in February 2026 but failed to honour the invitations.

Baffour Awuah, however, said the February 10, 2026 letter from EOCO invited the Senior Partner of his law firm to assist with investigations involving the firm’s client, SIC Life Savings and Loans Company Limited.

He said that by the time the invitation was received, he had become a Member of Parliament and was no longer acting as the Senior Partner of the firm.

He subsequently wrote to EOCO on February 18, 2026, informing the Office that, as an MP, he had referred the matter to the Clerk to Parliament for advice.

According to the MP, the matter did not end there, as a lawful representative of the firm subsequently engaged EOCO and cooperated with its investigation.

He said the representative attended interrogations on three separate occasions, on March 4, March 18 and April 30, 2026.

The representative, he added, provided all information requested by EOCO and submitted a formal written statement to the Office on April 30.

Baffour Awuah therefore disputed the suggestion that the invitations had been ignored, arguing that the firm had complied with the request for information.

He said since the lawful representative of the firm engaged with EOCO and provided the information and formal written statement required, there had been no further invitation.

EOCO maintains investigation is active

EOCO, meanwhile, has maintained that its attempted arrest of the MP was connected to an ongoing investigation and followed two invitations issued in February.

The Office said the attempted arrest was not completed after the situation escalated and officers assessed that proceeding could endanger public safety. It also said the investigation remained active.

The disagreement therefore centres on the capacity in which the February invitations were issued and whether subsequent cooperation by the law firm satisfied EOCO’s request for the MP’s attendance.