N805m Scam: Finally, Senator Nwaoboshi Lands in Prison

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The Senator representing Delta North in the National Assembly, Peter Nwaoboshi, who had been on the run months after the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal convicted and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment for money laundering, has finally landed in prison.

A statement by spokesman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, on Wednesday, said the lawmaker, who was earlier intercepted by EFCC operatives at an Hospital in Lagos on Monday, February 6, was finally remanded in Ikoyi Custodial Centre on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, to commence his prison term.

The Court of Appeal had in a judgement it 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 their properties forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

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 (NCoS). Instead, he proceeded to the Supreme Court, praying the apex court to not only set it aside the judgment of the appellate 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 delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the Supreme Court wondered why Nwaoboshi, who refused to submit himself to the law, would seek the indulgence of the law at the same time.