Money laundering: Supreme Court dismisses post-conviction bail application of Senator Nwaoboshi

 The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Friday dismissed an application brought before it  by Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, representing Delta North in the National Assembly, for post-conviction bail over his seven years imprisonment, having been convicted for money laundering.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, in the judgement, berated Nwaoboshi for evading compliance with the rule of law and juridical decision, yet turning back to seek protection from the same legal process he undermined.

One of the Judges, Justice Emmanuel Agim, expressed concerns that  Nwaoboshi, after declining to submit himself to the law, now seeks the indulgence of the law.

According to Justice Agim “being a serving senator and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for senator of Delta North, ought to be an assurance that he is law-abiding and will readily submit to the authority of the law.”

Justice Emmanuel Agim asserted that even though Nwaoboshi has a pending appeal before the court, “his application could not be granted because of the undisputed fact that he is in Nigeria, but has continued to devise means to frustrate the subsisting custodial sentence imposed on him by the Court of Appeal.

Also, Justice Tijani Abubakar said that the conduct of Nwaoboshi is sad and a slap on the rule of law.

Justice Abubakar expressed concerns because a lawmaker of the status of a senator would find it difficult to obey the law he participated in enacting.

The Supreme Court judges, dismissing the application, declared it “frivolous, vexatious and irritating”.

Nwaoboshi had since the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on July 1, convicted and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment on money laundering charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), gone underground.

Senator Nwaoboshi filed post-conviction bail application from his hiding place to evade serving the prison terms.