ACCRA, June 16, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The United States has granted permanent residency to Ghanaian ex-finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta, his lawyer said Tuesday, though authorities in Accra are seeking his extradition.

Ofori-Atta, 66, has been in the United States since January 2025 to receive medical treatment including surgery for prostate cancer.

Earlier this year, however, he was arrested by US immigration authorities, though it was over "the status of his current stay", his lawyers said at the time, rather than his legal woes back home.

The former minister was declared a fugitive by Ghana's Office of the Special Prosecutor in February 2025. Interpol issued a "red notice" for him in June that year, and Ghanaian authorities formally charged him with corruption in November.

He was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in January 2026 while applying to extend his stay in the country.

"Ken Ofori-Atta's Green card I-485 petition has been granted by US Immigration Court," his attorney Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo said in a statement.

"The Court finds the criminal charges in Ghana not credible," he said, though he added the decision "was focused on whether Mr Ofori-Atta met the legal requirements for adjustment of status".

Ghana's Office of the Special Prosecutor said it was not involved in immigration hearings and that its extradition request was being handled separately.

"The credibility or otherwise of the criminal charges against Mr. Ofori-Atta would be determined by the courts in Ghana, who have jurisdiction to determine his guilt or innocence," it said in a statement.

Ofori-Atta served as finance minister from 2017 to 2024 under former president Nana Akufo-Addo and oversaw contentious tax reforms and negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

He faces a sprawling, 78-charge corruption case back home.

Current President John Mahama has pursued a crackdown on corruption, though critics say he has unfairly targeted political enemies.