A serving Nigerian senator representing Delta North senatorial district, Peter Nwaoboshi, has been jailed by a Nigerian court for the crime of for money laundering in the sum of N322 Million, which happened between May and June 2014, according to the charges, seen by Clariform.
He was jailed for seven years, while two of his companies were also ordered to be wound up by the Court of Appeal.
The judgement and immediate sentencing was delivered on Friday by the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos.
The senator have had a long running legal battle with Nigeria`s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Senator Nwaoboshi was first arraigned at the High Court by the EFCC, alongside two of his companies, Suiming Electrical Ltd and Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd in 2018.
They were first arraigned before a High Court judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, who got promoted to the appellate court thereafter, following which the senator was again arraigned afresh before another judge for trial de novo.
The new trial judge, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke eventually found in favour of the senator and his two companies, holding that the EFCC was unable to prove their two-count charge in the case marked FHC/L/117C/18.
Consequently, Senator Nwaoboshi and his two companies were discharged and acquitted by the honorable court.
Not satisfied with Justice Aneke`s judgment, the EFCC pursued the matter further at the appellate court, which on Friday overturned the lower court’s judgment and convicted the Defendants.
In its judgement, the Court of Appeal also ordered that the two companies owned by Senator Nwaoboshi be wound up, as “the prosecution had proved the ingredients of the offence and consequently found the defendants guilty as charged,” EFCC said in a statement after the judgement.
