A Federal High Court in Abuja has
taken its final decision on the corruption case involving Justice Sylvester
Ngwuta of the Supreme Court.
The court on Friday freed Justice
Ugwuta from his trial on corruption charges.
In his ruling, Justice John
Tsoho, relied on the Court of Appeal’s decision in the case of Justice
Hyeladzira Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court, and held that the prosecution in
the Justice Ngwuta’s case failed to comply with the condition precedent before
bringing charges against a judicial officer.
Tsoho pointed out that, “as was
the Court of Appeal’s decision in the Justice Nganjiwa case, all allegations
against a judicial officer, with the exception of murder, arson and the likes,
must first be subjected to the scrutiny of the National Judicial Council (NJC)
before the affected judicial officer is taken before the regular court for
trial.”
He further explained that, “none
of the offences in the 13-count charge against Justice Ngwuta fall in the
category on the offences on which the Court of Appeal said a judicial officer
may be prosecuted with first clearing with the NJC.”
According g to him, the, “NJC was
cautious when it used the word ‘may’ in deciding that some offences could be
prosecuted without first subjecting such judicial officer to NJC’s disciplinary
process, because such distinction was always difficult to make.”
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