The Senator representing Delta North in the National Assembly, Peter Nwaoboshi who has been on the run for months after the Court of Appeal Lagos Division convicted and sentenced him to 7 years in prison for money laundering has finally been taken in to serve his prison term.
A Statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said the lawmaker was intercepted by its operatives at a hospital in Lagos on Monday and has been remanded in Ikoyi Custodial Centre on Wednesday.
The Court of Appeal had in a judgement delivered on July 1, 2022, sentenced Nwaoboshi to prison after it convicted him on a two-count charge of money laundering and also ordered the winding up of his two companies, Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd and Suiming Electrical Ltd, in line with the provision of Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2021, and the properties forfeited to the Federal Government but the Lawmaker who was not present in court at the time of the ruling went underground and refused to present himself to the Nigerian Correctional Service.
Nwaoboshi then proceeded to the Supreme Court praying the apex court to not only set aside the judgment of the appeal court but grant him bail, pending the determination of his appeal. But in a unanimous decision on January 27, 2023, the apex court dismissed the application.
In the lead judgement by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court wondered why Nwaoboshi, who refused to submit himself to the law would seek the indulgence of the Law. Justice Tijani Abubakar, in his contribution, upbraided the Appellant for filing the bail application while on the run.
The Court of Appeal judgement that convicted Nwaoboshi followed an appeal by the EFCC against the judgment of Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of a Federal High Court in Lagos, which had on June 18, 2021, discharged and acquitted the Lawmaker and his companies.
The EFCC also added that Nwaoboshi and his companies illegally acquired a property named Guinea House, Marine Road, in Apapa, Lagos, for N805 million. Part of the money paid for the property was transferred by Suiming Electrical Ltd on behalf of Nwaoboshi and Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd. The funds which were proceeds of illicit activities of the lawmaker.
