Seantor Peter Nwaoboshi
The Supreme Court has freed Senator Peter Nwaoboshi as the apex court, Friday, upturned his sentencing to seven years imprisonment for offences of fraud and money laundering.
The Supreme Court consequently ordered the immediate release of the senator who represented Delta North in the ninth Senate, from Ikoyi prisons in Lagos.
The ruling by the apex court has triggered jubilation in Ibusa, Nwaoboshi’s home town in Delta.
Delivering Judgment, the court also freed the two companies – Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd and Suiming Electrical Ltd – tried with him on a two-count charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a split decision of four-to-one, the Supreme Court set aside the July 1, 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, which had reversed their discharge and acquittal by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
In a lead judgment by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court held that Nwaobishi and the two companies were unjustly and maliciously prosecuted by the EFCC for committing no offences known to the law, and subjected them to a criminal trial in relation to a civil transaction, needlessly.
The EFCC had accused Nwaoboshi and his companies of illegally acquiring a property named Guinea House on Marine Road, in Apapa, Lagos, for N805 million, the property said to belong to the Delta State Govt.
They had claimed that part of the money paid for the property was transferred by Suiming Electrical Ltd on behalf of Nwaoboshi and Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd, adding the funds are believed to be proceeds of their illicit activities.
Nwaboshi, who represented Delta North in the 9th Senate, is a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, having defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where he was a key figure in his Delta state.
