The Federal Government on Tuesday again amended the corruption
charges it preferred against a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice
Sylvester Ngwuta, before a before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The added count has to do with the allegation that the defendant gave
false information to the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, concerning
his diplomatic passport with the purpose of procuring another one.
Three amendments have now been done to the charges originally filed
in December 2016. The amended charges have only one additional count.
Shortly after the lead prosecuting counsel, Mrs. Olufemi Fatunde,
announced the amendment to the court on Tuesday, the amended charges
were read to the defendant, who pleaded not guilty to all the 13 counts.
The additional count was earlier removed in the previous amendment done in March.
Other charges, including money laundering allegations of retention
and concealment of various sums of money in local and foreign
currencies, allegedly recovered from him during the raid of the
operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, on October 8, 2016,
remained part of the amended charges.
He was also accused, as contained in the previous charges, of giving
various cash sums of money above the statutory threshold to his building
contractor for the building of various houses in his home state, Ebonyi
State, without going through a financial institution.
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