The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has stopped the trial of Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court for non-declaration of assets.

Justice Ngwuta is standing trial on an eight-count charge of non-assets declaration.

He was first arraigned on March 21, 2017, by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) which accused him of contravening the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal (CCB/T) Act by failing to declare some of his assets.

Justice Ngwuta had earlier this year filed an application, challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal to further try him following the December 2017 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, on the appeal by Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court.

In a ruling on Monday, a two-man panel of the CCT, upheld Justice Ngwuta’s application that as a serving Justice of the Supreme Court, he could not be tried in any court or tribunal, except after he had been subjected to the investigatory and disciplinary processes of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

The tribunal said its hands were tied due to the decision of the Court of Appeal in Justice Nganjiwa’s case.

A member of the CCT panel, Williams Atedze, who read the ruling, said a judge could not be prosecuted by any court or tribunal until the NJC deals with the allegations against him/her and takes a decision on the case. (The Nation)