Peter Nwaoboshi, the senator representing Delta North in the National Assembly, was sent to the Ikoyi Prison on Wednesday, months after his conviction for N805m fraud by the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal.
The senator was sentenced to prison on July 1, 2022, after the Court of Appeal convicted him of two counts of money laundering.
The appellate court also ruled that the lawmakers’ firms, Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd and Suiming Electrical Ltd, be closed up and forfeited to the Federal Government according to the order of Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2021.
However, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission stated that Nwaoboshi had been on the run since he was convicted.
In a statement, EFCC’s Head, Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, said, “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.”
Uwujaren noted that the lawmaker filed an appeal to the Supreme Court while defying the appellate court’s judgment.
“Instead, he 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.”
When the appeal was heard on January 27, 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed the lawmakers’ application.
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Justice Emmanuel Agim, who led the apex court, condemned Nwaoboshi’s action wondering why he would seek the indulgence of the law when he had refused to submit to the law.
Justice Tijani Abubakar, in his contribution, criticised the lawmaker for filing the bail application while on the run.
“We must make it very clear to all Nigerians that nobody is above the law. The government and the governed are subject to the rule of law. And we must ensure respect for the rule of law.”
The Court of Appeal judgment that convicted Nwaoboshi followed an appeal, by the EFCC, against the judgment of Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which had, on June 18, 2021, discharged and acquitted the lawmaker and his companies.
Stella Adeniyi
