Court orders forfeiture Sen Nwaoboshi's 12-storey building to FG

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Monday ordered the temporary forfeiture of a 12-storey building at 27 Marine Road, Apapa owned by Senator Peter Nwao­boshi (PDP-Delta North Senatorial District), until the Economic and Finan­cial Crimes Commission (EFCC) concludes investi­gations in the N1.5billion fraud charges levelled against him.

The order was at the in­stance of an application filed by the EFCC’s counsel, George Chia-Yakua, against Senator Nwaoboshi and his two companies: Golden Touch Construction Project Limited and Bilderberg En­terprises Limited.

The EFCC said that the application was in line with Section 44(2)(k) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended, and Sections 28 and 29 of the EFCC (Establishment) Act 2004.

Chia-Yakhua told the court that the anti-graft agency had received a pe­tition from a group, Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum against the accused on alleged money-laun­dering by Nwaoboshi, who heads the Senate Commit­tee on Niger Delta Affairs.

In an affidavit in support of the application, Garuba Yusuf Abubakar, said that upon receipt of the petition, investigations were made on the movement of funds suspected to be proceeds of illegal activities.

He said that in 2010, the Tender Boards of Delta State awarded a contract to the Senator’s second com­pany, Bilderberg Enter­prises Limited, to buy con­struction equipment for the Delta State Direct Labour Agency for N1.580 billion. But rather than buying new equipment, the company only imported and sup­plied used equipment to the agency, when the state gov­ernment had paid for new ones.

Abubakar further alleged that Nwaoboshi moved the proceeds to various ac­counts linked to him, and his company bought the said 12-storey building known as “Guinea House” in Apapa for N805 million.

The deponent said that further investigation re­vealed that Nwaoboshi’s Bank Verification Number (BVN) 22300559079, has 20 bank accounts he operates in Nigeria, while his private companies through BVN 22244303840, have 23 ac­counts.

Consequently, Justice Abdulaziz Anka ordered that the disputed property be temporarily forfeited to the federal government.-The Authority