Fleeing Nigerian Senator Nabbed, Sent To Prison

The senator representing Delta North in the National Assembly, Peter Nwaboshi, who was convicted and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment seven months ago by the Court of Appeal in Lagos for laundering, was on Wednesday remanded in the Ikoyi Custodial Centre to commence his prison term.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission stated that Nwaoboshi had been on the run.

EFCC’s Head, Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement, said the lawmaker was intercepted by EFCC operatives at a hospital in Lagos on Monday, February 6.

The appellate court, on July 1, 2022, sentenced Nwaoboshi to prison after it convicted him of two counts of money laundering.

It also ordered the winding up of his two firms, Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd, and Suiming Electrical Ltd, under Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2021, and their properties forfeited to the Federal Government.

Wilson said, “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.

“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.”

But in a unanimous decision on January 27, 2023, the apex court dismissed the application.

In the lead judgment 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.

“We must make it very, 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 that there is 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 a Federal High Court in Lagos, which had on June 18, 2021, discharged and acquitted the lawmaker and his companies.

-Punch