Nigeria’s Supreme Court Justice, Syĺvester Nwali Ngwuta is dead. He reportedly died in his sleep on Sunday morning at his official residence in Abuja.
He was expected to retire at the end of March when he would have attained the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Justice Ngwuta was one of the judges whose home was invaded by operatives of DSS on October 8, 2016 over allegations of bribery and corruption. He was arrested and detained only to be confined to house arrest. He was supposed to be arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, only for a court to rule that his trial can only be determined by the National Judicial Council (NJC). He was reinstated back to the court three years after in September 2019.
Justice Sylvester began his Law career in 1978 as a State counsel in Benue State Ministry of justice, the same year he established his own law firm. On October 1995, he was appointed as a Judge of the Abia State High Court. On 22 May 2011, he was appointed to the bench of the Nigerian courts of appeal and on May 2013, he was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Nigeria as Justice.
He presided over the ruling of the Supreme Court that affirmed Olusegun Mimiko as the governor elect of Ondo State in the May 2013 governorship election. He also presided over the ruling of the Supreme Court that affirmed Kayode Fayemi as the governor elect of Ekiti State in the June 2013 governorship election and was supported by Justices Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad and Suleiman Galadima.
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