NDC Deputy General Secretary Mustapha Gbande has defended his comments on the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) investigation involving Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, insisting that he did not order the law enforcement agency to arrest the legislator.
Gbande said his position was that the MP should have cooperated with EOCO and presented himself to the agency instead of challenging it to arrest him.
“I did not say that I ordered the arrest of the Manhyia South MP. I said he should do well to arrest him,” he said in an interview on Asempa FM.
He questioned why a citizen, particularly a Member of Parliament, would openly challenge an enforcement agency to arrest him.
“How did we get to a point where a citizen can tell an enforcement agency, ‘I dare you to come and arrest me’?” he asked.
According to Gbande, Awuah’s concerns about the manner in which EOCO initially attempted to arrest him should not have prevented him from subsequently reporting to the agency.
He acknowledged that the confrontation involving an EOCO official was unfortunate but maintained that the MP should have exercised restraint and cooperated with the investigation.
“However wrong the mode of arrest was, the lawyer owed it to himself the duty to apply superior emotional intelligence. As an MP, if you are invited, go there,” Gbande said.
He said he had expected the Manhyia South MP to appear before EOCO following the initial incident rather than wait for the agency to secure an order for his arrest.
“The spectacle with the EOCO official was unfortunate, but after that I expected him to go to EOCO. Why would you wait until an order is procured for your arrest?” he asked.
Gbande’s comments come amid controversy surrounding the circumstances leading to EOCO’s pursuit and subsequent arrest of the Manhyia South MP, who has faced allegations in connection with an ongoing investigation.
He maintained that his earlier remarks should not be interpreted as an instruction to EOCO to arrest the legislator, but as a call for the MP to cooperate with the lawful investigative process.
