{"id":111119,"date":"2026-01-14T20:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=111119"},"modified":"2026-01-14T20:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:27:12","slug":"were-far-from-ofori-attas-extradition-frank-davies-responds-to-ablakwa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=111119","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019re far from Ofori-Atta\u2019s extradition \u2013 Frank Davies responds to Ablakwa"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 47 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

Frank Davies, a member of the legal team for former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, has pushed back against the Foreign Affairs Minister\u2019s suggestion that the United States will not stand in the way of Mr. Ofori-Atta\u2019s extradition.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Joy FM\u2019s Top Story<\/strong> on Wednesday, Mr. Davies described the Minister\u2019s remarks as premature and potentially misleading, insisting that Ghana is nowhere near the extradition stage under U.S. law.<\/p>\n

His comments come after Mr. Ablakwa disclosed that the U.S. government has assured Ghana of its cooperation in the possible extradition of Mr. Ofori-Atta and former MASLOC Chief Executive Officer, Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, as part of ongoing bilateral engagements.<\/p>\n

But according to Mr. Davies, such assurances should not be interpreted as an indication that extradition is imminent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we all understand due process, I didn\u2019t think it was useful for the Foreign Minister to come out to say what he said,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cGhana is nowhere close to extradition. Not at all. There\u2019s a far yard and rope. We are not close.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Ofori-Atta was detained in the United States in January 2026 following a formal extradition request by the government over corruption and procurement-related charges being pursued by the Office of the Special Prosecutor. <\/p>\n

He is currently being held by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while proceedings continue.<\/p>\n

Mr. Davies cautioned against conflating Mr. Ofori-Atta\u2019s ICE detention with the extradition process itself.<\/p>\n

He outlined the legal steps required for a lawful extradition.<\/p>\n

According to him, extradition begins with a formal request submitted by the requesting state, Ghana, to the requested state, the United States. U.S. authorities must then assess whether the request satisfies treaty and legal requirements.<\/p>\n

Only after this assessment can an arrest be effected specifically for extradition purposes.<\/p>\n

He explained that the matter must then proceed to a U.S. court, where a federal judge, not an immigration court, determines whether the extradition request is lawful. <\/p>\n

If the court upholds the request, the final stage involves the surrender of the individual to the requesting state.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\"KenFrank Davies, a member of the legal team for former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, has pushed back against the Foreign Affairs Minister’s suggestion that the United States will not stand in the way of Mr. Ofori-Atta\u2019s extradition.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14120,373,1917,1883,117,1352,4625,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-extradition","category-frank-davies","category-hp-news-4","category-national","category-news","category-ofori-atta","category-okudzeto-ablakwa","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111119\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}