Sylvester Ngwuta, a supreme court
justice who faced trial for corruption, has resumed his official duties.
Ngwuta, who has been absent from
the bench since 2016, was seen at a ceremony on Monday in Abuja, where the
title of senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) will be conferred on 36 lawyers.
He is the third most senior judge
on the bench of the apex court. Bode Rhodes-Vivour is the second most senior
while Ibrahim Muhammad, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), is the first.
In October 2016, Ngwuta’s home in
Abuja was raided by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The secret police claimed it
found hard currencies believed to be proceeds of corruption in his residence.
He was asked to step aside from
his duties, though his salary was not stopped, to face charges of money
laundering brought against him at a federal high court in Abuja.
He also faced charges of false
asset declaration at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). But both cases were
dismissed in 2018.
The charges were dismissed based
on a judgement of the appeal court which held that serving judges cannot be
prosecuted until they have been disciplined by the National Judicial Council
(NJC).
However, the CCT overruled itself
on this precedent in the case of Walter Onnoghen, former chief justice of
Nigeria (CJN).
Onnoghen was found guilty and
convicted of false asset declaration in April – without discipline or
recommendation by the NJC.
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