Riley-Poku represented the Amansie District Council of the Ashanti Region in the Constituent Assembly which drafted the 1979 Ghana constitution prior to the 1979 Ghanaian general election.
[1] Riley-Poku was a member of the People's National Party and was appointed by Hilla Limann as the Minister for Defence in his government in 1979.
[2] He remained in this position until December 1981 when the government was overthrown in a coup d'état.
[4] Prior to being in politics, Riley-Poku served as the headmaster of Sekondi College between 1966 and 1969.
[5] He later practised as a lawyer and was a member of the Ghana Bar Association.