Supreme Court orders release of Senator jailed for fraud

The Supreme Court has quashed the seven years prison sentence of Senator Peter Nwaoboshi.

Nwaoboshi, senator who represented Delta North, was convicted and jailed after investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC had alleged that Nwaoboshi and his companies illegally acquired a property named Guinea House on Marine Road, in Apapa, Lagos, for N805 million, which belonged to the Delta State government.

According to the prosecution, part of the money that was used to pay for the property was transferred by Suiming Electrical Ltd on behalf of Nwaoboshi and Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd.

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The EFCC said it believed that the funds Nwaoboshi and his company used to pay for the property, were proceeds of crime.

The Court of Appeal in Lagos had in a judgement delivered on July 1, 2022, sentenced Nwaoboshi to prison after it convicted him on a two-count charge the EFCC brought against him.

The appellate court equally ordered that his two companies- Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd and Suiming Electrical Ltd- be wound up, in line with the provision of Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2021.

The Supreme Court, however in a split decision of four-to-one, nullified the judgement of the appellate court.

It upheld the initial verdict of the Federal High Court in Lagos State, which discharged and acquitted the embattled former lawmaker of the charge against him.

But in its judgement on Friday, the Supreme Court quashed the conviction.

In a split decision of four to one, the five-member panel on Friday held that the ex-lawmaker was not given fair hearing before his conviction.

In the lead judgment by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court held that Nwaoboshi’s prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was unjust and malicious.

The apex court also freed the two companies: Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd and Suiming Electrical Ltd – tried with him on a two-count charges brought against them by the EFCC.