The Supreme Court on Thursday brought forward hearing in the case of Peter Nwaoboshi, a Nigerian senator jailed for fraud.
Last July, Mr Nwaoboshi was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison by the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal.
The senator, who represents Delta North senatorial district, was convicted on a two-count charge of fraud and money laundering.
But he urged the Supreme Court to upturn his conviction.
At Thursday’s proceedings, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, who led a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, agreed to quickly hear Mr Nwaoboshi’s appeal.
In a ruling, Mr Ariwoola rescheduled the hearing of the appeal for 9 February instead of the earlier date of 21 November, 2024.
The ruling followed a request by Mr Nwaoboshi’s lawyer, Kanu Agabi, for the case to be quickly heard and determined.
Mr Agabi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), noted that his client is a serving senator, who is also seeking re-election in the 2023 general elections.
He contended that it was imperative Mr Nwaoboshi’s appeal was heard on time to prevent a situation where he is made to serve his jail term only for his conviction to be quashed by the apex court.
The lawyer to the EFCC, Abba Mohammed, did not oppose Mr Nwaoboshi’s request.
Background
Upon Mr Nwaoboshi’s conviction, the Court of Appeal in Lagos ordered that his two companies, Golden Touch Construction Project Limited and Suiming Electrical Limited, be wound up in line with Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2021.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that in 2021, Mr Nwaoboshi was accused by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) of using 11 companies as fronts to secure for himself a N3.6 billion contract in the commission. The contract was not executed and the money was not refunded.
In 2018, the senator and his two companies were arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos over N322 million fraud and money laundering charges.
The EFCC in suit number FHC/L/117C/18 arraigned the three defendants for acquiring a property named Guinea House, Marine Road, in Apapa, Lagos, for N805 million. The agency said that N322 million of the money was part of the proceeds of fraud.
The judge, Chukwujekwu Aneke, ruled that the EFCC could not prove the charges filed against Mr Nwaoboshi.
But the EFCC appealed Mr Aneke’s ruling and was successful at the appellate court, leading to the sentencing of the lawmaker. (PT)
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