By Zika Bobby
The Senator Peter Nwaoboshi Media team (SPON) has refuted reports that the Senator representing Delta North Senatorial district, was bursted and hounded into a correctional centre by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Court of Appeal in Lagos had convicted the senator on a two-count charge on July 1, 2022 on the heels of the judgement delivered by the Justice Chukwujeku Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which discharged and acquitted him on same counts brought by the anti graft agency with N322 million at the centre of the money laundering allegation.
A statement by SPON’s head of media team, Philip Elueme, released in Abuja, at the weekend, noted that the APC Senator surrendered himself right from the time of conviction by the Appeal Court, even as he was not in court when convicted, “which in itself is legally perverse.”
He said the anti graft agency chose to play to the gallery by misrepresenting facts to drive home its vendetta against a “law abiding gentleman and lawmaker for that matter” with intent to disparage him by dispensing falsehood to create wrong impression in unsuspecting members of the public.
“The distinguished Senator and two others filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, Abuja, against the judgement of the Court of Appeal, which is still pending.
However, as against the claim by the EFCC that it arrested the Senator from his hidden place, the media team holds that the Senator shortly after his conviction surrendered himself to the Ikoyi Correctional Centre, but was refused entry by the authority on the ground that the Service was not in possession of his detention warrant from the court.”
Elueme added that the embattled Senator, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, went again, but for the second time refused entry into the correctional centre due to the same reason, maintaining that the statement issued and signed by Uwujaren was in bad light and ill conceived.
He said at no point did Nwaoboshi evade detention. “Could he have gone into the correctional facility without a duly procured detention warrant or definitely imprisoned himself?” He said Senator Nwaoboshi was admitted to the hospital where he had been receiving treatment and at no time was his whereabouts unknown to the EFCC who had visited him there previously, saying, neither has he any intention to evade imprisonment.
“We challenge the EFCC to exhibit the date on the remand order and tell the world why it took them seven months after the judgement of the Court of Appeal to obtain a remand warrant. The truth is incontrovertible, and we invite the EFCC and its co-travellers to contradict this position,” he said.