Peter Nwaboshi, the senator representing Delta North in the National Assembly, was detained in the Ikoyi Custodial Centre on Wednesday after being convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail for laundering by the Court of Appeal in Lagos seven months ago.
According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nwaoboshi has been on the run.
Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, stated in a statement that the lawmaker was apprehended by EFCC agents at a hospital in Lagos on Monday, February 6.
On July 1, 2022, the appellate court condemned Nwaoboshi to jail after convicting him on two charges of money laundering.
It also ordered the winding up of his two firms, Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd, and Suiming Electrical Ltd, under Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2021, and their properties forfeited to the Federal Government.
Wilson said, “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.
“Instead, he proceeded to the Supreme Court, praying the apex court to not only set aside the judgment of the appeal court but grant him bail, pending the determination of his appeal.”
However, on January 27, 2023, the Supreme Court denied the application unanimously.
In the main opinion, Justice Emmanuel Agim questioned why Nwaoboshi, who had refused to conform to the law, would seek its mercy.
In his addition, Justice Tijani Abubakar chastised the appellant for filing the bail application while on the run.
“We must make it very, very clear to all Nigerians that nobody is above the law. The government and the governed are subject to the rule of law. And we must ensure that there is respect for the rule of law.”
The Court of Appeal judgment that convicted Nwaoboshi followed an appeal by the EFCC against the judgment of Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of a Federal High Court in Lagos, which had on June 18, 2021, discharged and acquitted the lawmaker and his companies.
