Nwaoboshi said he was confident that the Supreme Court will subject the judgment to critical review
By Emma Ogbuehi
Senator representing Delta North senatorial district at the National Assembly and chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi has vowed to challenge the Court of Appeal judgment at the Supreme Court.
The Senator who made the disclosure through a statement by his media unit, said he was confident that the Supreme Court will subject the judgment to critical review and do the needful.
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The statement titled “Court of Appeal Judgment” read, “the attention of SPON Media has been drawn to the news making rounds about the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Lagos over a matter which EFCC filed against Chief, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, the Senator representing Delta North at the Senate.
“It is not unusual to have judgements that astound the parties, depending on where the pendulum swings.
“The judgement, the news of which is in the media, arose from an appeal by EFCC against the judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which discharged and acquitted Distinguished Senator & Co-Defendants at the trial level.
“Steps are being taken to challenge the Court of Appeal judgment immediately and we are confident that the Supreme Court will subject the judgment to critical review accordingly.”
The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos, had earlier on Friday, convicted and sentenced Senator Nwaoboshi, to seven years imprisonment and ordered that his two companies, Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd and Suiming Electrical Ltd, be wound up in line with the provisions of Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2021.
The court’s ruling followed the success of the appeal by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which had challenged the judgment of Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of a Federal High Court, Lagos, which on June 18, 2021, discharged and acquitted the defendants of a two count charge of fraud and money laundering.
The lower court in its judgment, held that the prosecution failed to call vital witnesses and tender concrete evidence to prove the elements of the offences for which it charged the defendants.
However, dissatisfied the judgement, the EFCC appealed to the Court of Appeal, contending that the trial judge erred in law in dismissing the charges against the respondents.
Nwaoboshi, erstwhile commissioner and Delta State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had dumped the party and crossed over to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in course of his trial.