A senator from Delta North who was convicted of money laundering has been taken into custody to begin his prison sentence. The senator, Peter Nwaoboshi, was sentenced to seven years in prison by the Court of Appeal in Lagos in July 2022 for his role in a N805 million money laundering case.
He had been on the run since the ruling, but was recently arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at a hospital in Lagos.
The appellate court ordered the winding up of Nwaoboshi’s two firms, Golden Touch Construction Project Limited and Suiming Electrical Limited, and their properties to be forfeited to the Federal Government. However, Nwaoboshi refused to surrender to the Nigerian Correctional Service and instead sought relief from the Supreme Court by filing a bail application. The Supreme Court ultimately dismissed his application in a unanimous decision on January 27, 2023.
The Court of Appeal’s judgment came after the EFCC appealed a previous ruling by a Federal High Court in Lagos which had discharged and acquitted Nwaoboshi and his companies. The senator and his companies were found to have illegally acquired a property in Apapa, Lagos State for N805 million, with part of the funds believed to be proceeds of illicit activities.
The judges emphasized the importance of upholding the rule of law and stressed that no one is above the law. EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, stated that the agency will continue to enforce the law and bring those who violate it to justice.
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