THE Senator representing Delta North in the National Assembly, Peter Nwaoboshi, has been sent to the Ikoyi Prison months after his conviction for money laundering by the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal.
This was disclosed in a statement released on Wednesday, January 8, by the spokesman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren.
The EFCC said its operatives arrested Nwaoboshi at a Hospital in Lagos on Monday, February 6. He was finally sent to Ikoyi Custodial Centre to start a seven years prison sentence handed down to him after his conviction.
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The ICIR reported that in July 2022, a Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal sentenced Nwaoboshi, a serving Senator, to seven years in prison for money laundering.
The court also ordered that Nwaoboshi’s two companies, Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd and Suiming Electrical Ltd, be wound up in line with the provisions of Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2021.
According to the EFCC, 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 (NCoS).
Instead, he proceeded to the Supreme Court, praying the apex court to not only set aside the appellate court’s judgment but also grant him bail, pending the determination of his appeal.
However, on January 27, 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed his application in a unanimous decision.
In the lead judgment written by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court questioned why Nwaoboshi, who refused to submit to the law, would also ask for the law’s tolerance.
On his part, Justice Tijani Abubakar, another member of the Supreme Court panel, criticised the Senator for filing the bail application while on the run.
Nwaoboshi was found guilty by the Court of Appeal after the EFCC appealed a ruling by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which released and exonerated the Delta lawmaker and his businesses on June 18, 2021.
According to the EFCC, Nwaoboshi and his companies illegally acquired Guinea House, Marine Road, in Apapa, Lagos, for N805 million.
The money was considered to be the proceeds of illegal activities.
A reporter with the ICIR
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