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Lastest News Nigeria, Politics, Business, Sport, Interview
Members of Delta State’s All Progressives Congress (APC) gathered yesterday to celebrate the Supreme Court’s reprieve of Senator Peter Nwaoboshi.
The Abuja High Court overturned the lower hearing date in the appeal challenging Nwaoboshi’s seven-year prison sentence for corruption.
People gathered in lbusa, Oshimili North local government area, the senator’s hometown, while party members and loyalists sang victory songs at the APC secretariat.
Engr Omeni Sobotie, the state chairman of the APC, said they were relieved because justice was about to be served, claiming that his predicament was staged by enemies of democracy.
Though the hearing date for the appeal against the conviction was set for November 24, 2024, the court moved it to February 9, 2023, in response to an application.
Nwaoboshi had made a passionate appeal to the Supreme Court, through his counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), a former Attorney-General of the Federation, to expedite the hearing of the case against his client’s imprisonment.
Agabi informed the Supreme Court panel led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, that his client is a serving senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The senior lawyer pleaded for a speedy hearing on his client’s appeal against the imprisonment imposed by the Court of Appeal in Lagos on July 1, 2022.
Agabi’s request for a fast-track hearing was based on the fear that the convicted Senator would be forced to serve his sentence before the Supreme Court could decide whether he was innocent or not.
He cited cases of Nigerians whose convictions and jail terms were overturned after they had served their sentences, saying that such cases are concerning.
However, after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other parties did not object to the request, the chief justice, in a brief ruling, reversed the earlier November 24, 2024, date to February 9, 2023, to determine the Senator’s innocence or guilt in the corruption charges against him.
