Dennis Miracles Aboagye, an aide to the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2028 presidential candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has been released from the custody of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) after meeting bail conditions of GHC50 million with three sureties.

Aboagye was arrested at the Accra International Airport after returning from a trip abroad as part of an EOCO investigation into alleged financial and procurement irregularities involving about GHC55 million during his tenure as Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCCoD).

The former IMCCoD Executive Secretary was arrested alongside the secretariat’s former accountant, Gerald Appiah. EOCO said investigations into the alleged offences are ongoing.

His release comes after his legal team criticised the bail conditions as excessive and difficult to satisfy.

Lead counsel Samuel Atta Akyea questioned the practicality of securing the required sureties within a short period.

“How is he going to be released? How is he going to post the bail bonds? GH¢50 million, three sureties, two to be justified. How can it be met?” Atta Akyea told reporters following his client’s arrest.

The arrest has also drawn political criticism from the opposition NPP.

Akosua Manu, popularly known as Kozie, a member of the party and spokesperson for its Sub-Committee on Gender and Social Protection, alleged that the arrest formed part of a broader campaign to intimidate opposition figures.

Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana, Manu claimed recent arrests of opposition members and what she described as excessive bail conditions were intended to silence critics of the government.

“The pattern of arresting dissenters and levying obscene bail conditions on them is just a move to silence or gag the opposition,” she said.

She further alleged that the actions were linked to what she described as a plan to pave the way for a third presidential term for President John Dramani Mahama.

“This is paving the way for a third-term agenda,” she said, urging Ghanaians to resist any attempt to undermine constitutional safeguards.

Manu also referred to the suspension proceedings involving Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, arguing that earlier public silence over the issue had emboldened the government.

The allegations come amid public debate over a case before Ghana’s Supreme Court seeking an interpretation of Article 66(2) of the Constitution on presidential term limits.

President Mahama has repeatedly stated that he has no intention of seeking a third term in office or amending the Constitution to permit one.