NIGERIA’S Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, the senator representing Delta North, who was convicted and sentenced on charges of fraud and money laundering.
The apex court also ordered his immediate release from the Ikoyi Correctional Centre in Lagos, where he has been held.
The Supreme Court judgment, delivered earlier today (Friday), also freed the two companies involved in the case, Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd and Suiming Electrical Ltd. These entities were jointly tried with Senator Nwaoboshi on a two-count charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a divided judgment, with a four-to-one decision, the Supreme Court set aside the earlier judgment by the Court of Appeal in Lagos delivered on 1st July 2022, which had overturned the discharge and acquittal of the defendants by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
Justice Emmanuel Agim delivered the lead judgment on behalf of the Supreme Court, highlighting that Senator Nwaoboshi and the two companies had been unjustly and maliciously prosecuted by the EFCC for actions that did not constitute any offences recognized by the law. The court emphasised that they were subjected to an unnecessary criminal trial in relation to a civil transaction.
The EFCC had accused Senator Nwaoboshi and his companies of unlawfully acquiring a property known as Guinea House on Marine Road in Apapa, Lagos, for a sum of N805 million, alleging that the property belonged to the Delta State government. The agency further alleged that funds transferred by Suiming Electrical Ltd on behalf of Senator Nwaoboshi and Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd were believed to be proceeds from their illicit activities.
Eighteen-Eleven Media