Photo Credit: The Punch
A Justice of the Nigeria’s Supreme Court, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta has appeared in court on Monday on charges of money laundering and breaching rules in obtaining passports.
Justice Ngwuta was charged according to the Punch in Nigeria following a raid on his house together with some other judges, weeks ago by security agencies. He has however pleaded not guilty to all the 16 counts read to him in court.
Justice Ngwuta is alleged to have transferred huge sums of money to a building contractor, which is be part what prosecutors say is from his “unlawful” activities.
Besides the money laundering charges the punch reports that Mr. Ngwuta was accused of passport offences in counts eight to 14 of the amended charges.
Nigeria’s Chief Justice, Mahmud Mohammed has said that the decision of the country’s National Judicial Council to suspend seven judges including Mr. Ngwuta was to signal the judiciary’s resolve to be independent.
The judges were suspended over corruption allegations after the country’s security agency announced it has seized $800,000 cash from senior judges during raids.
Source: Africafeeds.com
