The Federal Government alleged on Monday
that a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, on
October 9, 2016, tampered with evidence likely to incriminate him while
on bail – following his arrest by the operatives of the Department of
State Service on corruption allegations between October 7 and 8.
The Federal Government, in opposing the
bail application which Ngwuta’s lawyer, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), argued
after his client’s arraignment before the Federal High Court in Abuja on
Monday, stated that the evidence the accused allegedly tampered with
were a cash sum of N27m and three exotic cars.
The prosecution alleged that after
Ngwuta was granted administrative bail by the DSS in Abuja on November
9, 2016, he made a call to someone in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, to move
the sum of N27m cash and three exotic cars to some other locations in
order to conceal them.
The cars, which were said to have been
recovered by the DSS from where they were moved to, were a Hummer Jeep, a
Wrangler Jeep, and a BMW 5 Series sedan.
The government, however, stated that the
N27m cash along with some vital documents moved in bags from the
bathroom of the Abakaliki home of the justice of the apex court was not
recovered because it had been “dissipated”.
Ngwuta, who appeared before a Federal
High Court in Abuja, sporting a grey suit with a blue shirt and a red
tie, was arraigned before Justice John Tsoho on 16 counts, including
money laundering and offences relating to obtaining of multiple
passports.
The justice of the apex court was allowed to sit in the dock.
But he stood up to plead not guilty when the charges were read to him at about 10.41am on Monday.
Following his arraignment, his lawyer
moved his bail application which was opposed by Federal Government’s
lawyer, Mr. Charles Adeogun-Philips.
Despite the prosecution’s opposition to
the bail, the judge returned from about two-hour break to grant bail to
the Justice of the Supreme Court in the sum of N100m to be guaranteed by
his own recognisance.
The defendant, who only had to sign a
bail bond worth N100m and guaranteed by his status as a Justice of the
Supreme Court, was seen being driven out of the court premises in his
official Mercedes Benz E350 at about 3.30pm on Monday.
The judge, after dismissing the fear
expressed by the prosecution about the possibility of the defendant
interfering with evidence and evading trial as baseless, fixed December 7
and 8 for commencement of trial.
However, while opposing the bail
application earlier, Adeogun-Philips referred to the counter-affidavit
which was filed on Monday narrating how Ngwuta allegedly committed more
offences by trying to conceal the origin of the N27m and the exotic cars
by instructing Chukwuebuka to move them from his Abakaliki house to
other locations.
The counter-affidavit deposed to by Mr.
Ganau Wando, an official of the Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions of the Federation, read in part, “That whilst on
administrative bail between October 9 and 21, 2016, the
defendant/applicant committed further offences.
“That, in particular, following his
arrest on October 7, 2016, and subsequent release on administrative bail
on October 9, 2016, the defendant/applicant sought to obstruct the
proper administration of justice, having tampered with the evidence
likely to incriminate him in criminal acts by engaging one Mr. Nwamba
Linus Chukwuebuka through a telephone call on October 10, 2016, to
remove the properties from his private residence located at Engineering
Close, Off Onwe Road, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. The properties are as
follows:
“A bag located in the
defendant/applicant’s bathroom containing some vital documents which was
initially concealed by Mr. Chukwuebuka at the residence of one Abraham
Ezeani in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, on or about October 9, 2016, and
subsequently recovered from there by investigators from the DSS in
November 2016.
“A bag located in the
defendant/applicant’s bathroom containing the sum of N27m in cash which
was initially concealed by Mr. Chukwuebuka at the residence of one
Abraham Ezeani in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, on or about October 9, 2016,
following which it was subsequently dissipated by Mr. Chukwuebuka on the
direct instructions of the defendant/applicant.”
The counter-affidavit added that the
Hummer Jeep Sports Utility Vehicle, Wrangler Jeep Sports Utility Vehicle
and BMW 5 Series Vehicle were “previously located in the compound of
the defendant/applicant’s private home in Abakaliki and initially
concealed by Mr. Chukwuebuka at the residence of an aunt to Chukwuebuka
in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, on or about October 9, 2016, and
subsequently recovered from there by investigators from the DSS in
November 2016.
The prosecuting counsel, while arguing
the government’s objection, said the prosecution “regrettably” had to
oppose the defendant’s bail application because of his (Ngwuta’s) acts
of dishonesty which he had demonstrated by also obtaining multiple valid
passports.
“There must be consequences for
wrongful conduct. So many times, things have been done in our society
with disregard to consequences,” the prosecutor said.
He added, “In counts 10 to 16 of the charges, the defendant is alleged to have maintained multiple identities.
“My lord, in any jurisdiction in the
world, I cannot but reject him being released on his own recognisance or
being released at all.
“On October 8, a day before the call was
made to Abakaliki, the defendant was found with four valid passports.
Two of those passports were diplomatic passports and two were standard.
He didn’t stop there, investigation showed that earlier this year the
defendant had declared two of those passports lost.
“Now we have this problem–we are
confronted with such acts of dishonesty. We are confronted with offences
that were committed while still on administrative bail.
“The objection is an outright objection.
But I have also realistically identified that if your lordship is
minded to grant bail, it should be on stringent conditions.
Replying on the point of law, Agabi,
however, said the prosecuting counsel was merely repeating the content
of the charges and urged the trial judge not to reach conclusions before
trial commenced.
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