The senator representing Delta North in the upper chamber, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, will have to come out of hiding to serve his seven-year jail term.
This followed the refusal by Supreme Court to grant his post-conviction bail application brought before it by the lawmaker.
Nwaoboshi was jailed for seven years for money laundering.
The five-member panel of judges of the apex court while rejecting the bail request noted that Senator Nwaoboshi’s conduct was a slap on Nigeria’s democracy and the rule of law.
Justice Emmanuel Agim who read the court’s decision wondered why Senator Nwaoboshi who refused to submit himself to the law, was now seeking the indulgence of the law.
The judge pointed out that being a serving senator and the Senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Delta North Senatorial District ought to be an assurance that Nwaoboshi was law-abiding and would readily submit to the authority of the law.
Justice Agim further noted that despite the fact that Nwaoboshi had an appeal pending before the court, his application could not be granted because of the undisputed fact that he was in Nigeria, but had continued to devise means to frustrate the subsisting custodial sentence imposed on him by the Court of Appeal.
Also speaking on the senator’s bail request, another member of the panel, Justice Tijani Abubakar, also described Nwaoboshi’s conduct as sad and a slap on the rule of law, and wondered why a lawmaker of the status of a senator would find it difficult to obey the law he participated in making.
The court while dismissing the application described it as frivolous, vexatious and irritating.
It would be recalled that the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, had in a judgment delivered on July 1, 2022 convicted and sentenced Nwaoboshi on money laundering charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
However, rather than serve the seven-year jail term determined against him by the court, Nwaoboshi went underground, and while still in hiding, he filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence, along with the application with which he sought to be granted bail pending the determination of his appeal.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
