Mustapha Abdul-Hamid Trial: Court Rejects Defence Request for Lengthy Adjournment

An Accra High Court has denied a request for a lengthy adjournment from the lead counsel of Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).

The court has scheduled the next appearance for Wednesday, September 9, 2026, to continue the case management conference.

After the proceedings on September 8, 2026, Joseph Kpemka, who is representing Abdul-Hamid, stated that the adjournment request was based on several factors, including the health concerns affecting some members of the defense team.

“You recall that when we applied to the office of the CJ to waive the holidays for us to have the vacation, he actually indicated that adjournments are actually at the discretion of trial courts and not the CJ, and that if we needed that, we should pass it through the court. And we have attended court throughout the holidays. There’s no adjournment that we have been absent.

“Counsel has been unwell. That’s one. And two, you know that the bar conference is coming next week. And subsequently, we have other activities just before, and we are exhausted. I mean, the legal year took a toll on us. We are all exhausted. And we also needed that maybe we could get the judge’s attention to give us a few more days after the legal year so that we come back in October,” he explained.

However, the court declined the request and directed the parties to return on September 9, 2026.

“But my lord said that we should come back tomorrow. And that he was not acceding to the prayer. And we are obliged to be in court tomorrow, and we will so be,” Kpemka noted.

He stressed that the application was not made without justification.

According to Kpemka, the defence team had been hoping for a few weeks to recuperate from what he described as a “very torturous journey” throughout the legal year.

Mustapha Abdul-Hamid trial adjourned to August 27

Abdul-Hamid and seven others are standing trial over allegations of extorting money from players in the petroleum sector.

The accused persons had previously filed an application seeking to strike out the charge sheet, but the court dismissed the application, allowing the pre-trial process to continue.