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The issue regarding government’s decision to divert 250 million dollars of the total proceeds from the $1 billion Eurobond issued in 2015 to the UBA is sure not to die anytime soon.

This was after drama unfolded this morning on Accra based Metro TV’s flagship current affairs programme, Good Morning Ghana when the Deputy Communications Director of the NPP Mike Oquaye Jnr. allegedly maligned the image of some members of the ruling party.

He later got a text message threatening to drag him to court for making unsubstantiated allegations.

The text message which was sent to the cell phone of the host of the program Randy Abbey read “Tell Mike Oquaye he should be prepared to meet me in court”. It came from a key member of the NDC Mr. Ato Ahwoi who until recently was a former Board Chairman of the GNPC. Lawyer Mike Oquaye also picked up the gauntlet and indicated his preparedness to meet the NDC stalwart in court.

Mr Oquaye Jnr on the program claimed that it will be easy for the public to speculate that there was some connivance on the part of top government officials to short change Ghanaians in the infamous US $250m infrastructure fund lodged in a private account at UBA.

According to him, Ghanaians are questioning why the Ato Ahwoi led-Board decided to keep the US $250 Eurobond funds at the UBA, where his brother, Kwamena Ahwoi serves as a board member.

He pointed out that it is very easy to conclude that the whole deal was a “friends and family” affair because Mr. Ato Ahwoi is Board Chairman of Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) and his younger brother Prof Kwamena Ahwoi and a close associate Mr. Alex Mould, the CEO of GNPC are also board members of UBA.

“We all know that these personalities are related in one way or the other and the public will find it curious how come they both have a role to play in the organizations involved in this deal, so I say it is not difficult to speculate that something fishy went on,” Lawyer Oquaye Jnr said.

Host of the program Randy attempted to stop the NPP communicator from continuing with his line of argument but he persisted. Not long after Mr. Ato Ahwoi sent a message to the program and asked that Mike Oquaye Jnr. should get ready to meet him in court.

The discussion on the GOOD MORNING GHANA program was about claims by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP running mate’s assertions that government had transferred 250million dollars of the latest Eurobond proceeds to a private account and turned around to borrow back that same amount through treasury bills thus paying interest again on the same amount to the private bank for electoral gains.

The former deputy Central Bank Governor contends that the decision to deposit foreign currency belonging to the state in a private bank other than the Bank of Ghana violates the BoG Act and constitutes gross mismanagement of the economy.

Government Deny Claims

Finance Minister Seth Tekper assured that, “the US$250 million seed money to GIIF lodged by the Board with a Commercial Bank is safe and has already started bearing interest to the idle Fund.”

Mr Terkper denied the allegations and explained that GIIF Board lodged the $250 million seed money with a commercial bank in December when a decision was taken to move the money from the Central Bank, where it had been lying idle for two years.

He adds that the funds which go into GIFF’s account in any commercial bank cannot be misapplied for election purposes.