The Supreme Court has agreed to promptly hear an appeal by a serving Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North Senatorial District) who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
In a ruling yesterday, a five-member panel of the apex court, led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, granted Nwaoboshi’s prayer that his appeal be brought forward and heard promptly.
Justice Ariwoola, in the lead ruling, said Nwaoboshi’s application, having not been opposed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other respondents, should be granted as prayed.
The CJN subsequently rescheduled the hearing of the appeal for February 9 instead of the earlier date of November 21, 2024.
Other members of the panel – Justices John Okoro, Amina Augie, Mohammed Garba and Emmanuel Agim – agreed with the lead ruling.
Nwaoboshi’s lawyer Kanu Agabi (SAN) had, while arguing the application, averred that his client was a serving senator, who is also contesting in the February 25 National Assembly poll.
Read Also: Ogun PDP: Adebutu floors Lawal at Supreme Court
Agabi said it was imperative to hear Nwaoboshi’s appeal on time to prevent a situation where he is jailed before his appeal succeeds and is eventually heard.
EFCC’s lawyer Abba Mohammed and other lawyers in the case did not oppose the application, and the court gave its ruling.
Nwaoboshi is, in the appeal, seeking to reverse the July 1, 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Lagos which convicted and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment for money laundering.
The Court of Appeal also, in the judgment, ordered that his two companies – Golden Touch Construction Project Limited and Suiming Electrical Limited – be wound up in line with the provisions of Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2021.
The Court of Appeal’s judgment was on the appeal filed by the EFCC against a June 18, 2018 judgment delivered by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, which discharged and acquitted Nwaoboshi and his companies on the two-count charge of fraud and money laundering on which they were tried.
The EFCC had accused Nwaoboshi of unlawfully acquiring a property, identified as Guinea House on Marine Road in Apapa, Lagos State, for N805 million.
The commission claimed, among others, that part of the money paid for the property (N322 million), which was transferred by Suiming Electrical Limited on behalf of Nwaoboshi and Golden Touch Construction Project Limited, was from proceeds of fraud.