The Supreme Court of Nigeria has today, in Abuja, upturned the conviction of Senator Peter Nwaoboshi by the Appeal Court.
The apex court discharged and acquitted the former lawmaker, quashing his sentence of seven years imprisonment for offenses of fraud and money laundering.
In a ruling today, the apex court ordered his immediate release from the Ikoyi prisons in Lagos, where he is being incarcerated.
The Court also freed the two companies—Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd. and Suiming Electrical Ltd.—tried with him on a two-count charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a split decision of four-to-one, the Supreme Court set aside the July 1, 2022, judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, which reversed their discharge and acquittal by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
The court, in a lead judgment read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, held that Nwaobishi and the two companies were unjustly and maliciously prosecuted by the EFCC for committing no offenses known to the law, which subjected them to a needless criminal trial about a civil rights transaction.
The anti-graft agency had accused Nwaoboshi and his companies of illegally acquiring a property named Guinea House on Marine Road in Apapa, Lagos, for N805 million, a property said to belong to the Delta State Government.
The agency claimed that part of the money paid for the property was transferred by Suiming Electrical Ltd. on behalf of Nwaoboshi and Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd., adding that the funds are believed to be proceeds of their illicit activities.
