The Federal High Court,
Abuja, on Friday, March 23, discharged a Supreme Court judge, Justice Sylvester
Ngwuta of the 13-count charge preferred against him by the federal government
in 2016.
Delivering a ruling,
Justice John Tsoho held that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the
case.
Tsoho also held that the
condition precedent for charging a judicial officer to court was not complied
with.
He said the precedent was
that any judicial officer accused of a wrong doing must first be reported to
the National Judicial Council (NJC), before being charged to court.
Tsoho said that the
condition was not followed before the charges were filed against Ngwuta, adding
that the proceedings so far conducted in the case remained null and void.
“The court holds that the
condition precedent to filing of the charge against the applicant (Ngwuta) was
not fulfilled. Consequently, the jurisdiction of this court to try same was not
properly invoked.
“Therefore, the proceedings
taken so far herein are declared a nullity, the charge is struck out and the
applicant discharged,” Tsoho ruled.
The News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN)reports that Ngwuta was charged following a raid on his house and some
other judges by operatives of the Department of State Security Services, (DSS).
He was arraigned on charges
of Money Laundering and possession of multiple international passports.
In the course of the trial,
Counsel to the defendant, Mr Kanu Agabi, (SAN) filed an application seeking an
order of the court dismissing the matter for lack of jurisdiction.
Agabi argued that the
condition-precedent for the invocation of the jurisdiction of the court as set
by the Court of Appeal was not followed.
Speaking with newsmen after
the session, Mrs Olufemi Fatunde, the Prosecuting Counsel said a petition would
be duly sent to the NJC to formally place Ngwuta’s alleged misconduct before
the council.
She said it was indeed
incumbent on the prosecution to follow the proper procedure for charging a
judicial officer to court.
The Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Justice Mohammed Yinusa before a Lagos
high court sitting in Ikeja.
He was arraigned on a five
count charge alongside Esther Agbo, a staff of the law firm of a senior
advocate of Nigeria, Rickey Tarfa.
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