LAGOS, APRIL 25, 2018 – JUSTICE Mohammed Idris of a Federal High Court sitting at Ikoyi, Lagos on Wednesday remanded in Ikoyi Prisons, a serving Senator representing Delta-North Senatorial District, Peter Nwaoboshi after he was arraigned on charges bordering on fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Senator Nwaoboshi before Justice Idris on a two count charge bordering on fraud to the tune of N805m.
Other defendants in the charge are two companies – Golden Touch Construction Projects Ltd, and Summing Electricals Ltd.
In the charge, the anti-graft agency accused the embattled Senator of purchasing Guinea House, Marine Road, Apapa, Lagos at the sum of N805 million knowing that N322million out of the sum is from proceeding of fraud.
Summing Electricals Ltd was also accused of aiding and abetting Senator Nwaoboshi to commit money laundering.
Nwaoboshi who had pleaded not guilty to the charge was alleged to have committed the offence between May and June 2014.
Earlier during Wednesday’s proceedings Nwaoboshi’s lawyer, Mrs. Velerie Azinge (SAN), while moving an application for her client’s bail, urged the court to admit the senator to bail on self-recognisance or in liberal terms.
Azinge said besides suffering from a heart-related ailment, Nwaoboshi, a senator, would not jump bail, as, according to her, he must always attend Senate proceedings, failing which his seat would be declared vacant by the Senate President.
“This is a case of a pure commercial transaction,” she added, stressing that should the court be unwilling to admit Nwaoboshi to bail on self-recognisance, the terms of the bail should be liberal.
“Alternatively, in the event that the court is not minded to grant bail on self-recognisance, we will be craving the court’s indulgence to grant bail in the most liberal terms.
“Even the head of the Senate himself, Dr. Bukola Saraki, is before the court of law and yet he is still presiding over the Senate proceedings,” she said.
The prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Abubakar Mohammed, told the court that the anti-graft agency filed a counter-affidavit in opposition to Nwaoboshi’s bail application.
