The Minority in Parliament has asked the Attorney-General, Dr Dominic Ayine, to appear before the House to explain his position in ongoing Supreme Court proceedings involving the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), warning that it will pursue a formal inquiry if he fails to do so.
The call was made at a press briefing in Accra on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, where the Minority spokesperson, Mr Alhassan Tampuli, accused the government of pursuing a coordinated effort through legal and legislative processes to weaken the OSP.
“It is constitutionally unacceptable for the state’s chief legal officer to actively argue against a statutory institution of the Republic in judicial proceedings without parliamentary accountability,” Mr Tampuli said.
The demand follows a High Court ruling in Accra on April 15, 2026, presided over by Justice John Eugene Nyante Nyadu, which upheld a quo warranto application filed by Mr Peter Archibold Hyde.
The court ruled that the OSP lacked the constitutional mandate to initiate criminal prosecutions, declared its ongoing prosecutions null and void, and directed the Attorney-General to take over those cases. It also awarded costs of GH¢15,000 against the OSP.
Mr Tampuli questioned the circumstances surrounding the case and called for scrutiny of Mr Hyde’s background and possible links to the government and the Attorney-General’s office.
“How did a private quo warranto application filed in the High Court come to produce, with such perfect timing, exactly the outcome that the Attorney-General has been pursuing at the Supreme Court?” he asked.
The Minority also accused Dr Ayine of opposing the OSP in a separate Supreme Court case filed by private legal practitioner Mr Noah Ephraem Tetteh Adamtey. The case challenges aspects of the OSP Act, 2017.
According to the Minority, the Attorney-General opposed an application by the OSP to join the case as a party. The Supreme Court dismissed that application on January 27, 2026.
Mr Tampuli said this denied the OSP the opportunity to defend its mandate in proceedings that could affect its operations.
He outlined what the Minority described as a sequence of events beginning in December 2025, including a private member’s bill to repeal the OSP law, public comments by President John Dramani Mahama on the matter, the filing of the Supreme Court suit, and subsequent legal developments leading to the High Court ruling.
“This is not a sequence of coincidence. It is a campaign and the Minority names it as such,” he said.
On the High Court decision, the Minority argued that matters involving constitutional interpretation fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 131 of the 1992 Constitution. Mr Tampuli said the High Court therefore, acted without jurisdiction.
“What the judge purported to do on April 15, 2026, is clearly constitutionally impermissible,” he said. “No High Court ruling can override that.”
The Minority called on the OSP to appeal the ruling, seek a stay of execution, and file a certiorari application at the Supreme Court to quash the decision. It also urged the Supreme Court to treat the Adamtey case as one of urgent public importance.
The group further called on President Mahama to state his position, arguing that his public comments in support of the OSP do not align with the Attorney-General’s position in court.
“He cannot continue to claim publicly that he supports the OSP while his own Attorney-General argues for its constitutional position to be overturned,” Mr Tampuli said.
Mr Tampuli maintained that the OSP Act remains in force until the Supreme Court rules otherwise.
“The Supreme Court has not spoken. Until it does, Act 959 is the law of the land,” he said.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh