Supreme Court dismisses EFCC’s appeal against quashing of Justice Nganjiwa’s trial

Bisi ABASS

The Supreme Court has upheld the December 2017 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos which quashed the corruption charge against Justice Hyeladzira Ngajiwa of the Federal High Court on the grounds that he was a serving judge.

The Court of Appeal had in its judgment, held that under Section 158 of the Constitution, it is only the National Judicial Council (NJC) that has the power to deal with allegations of misconduct against a serving judge, and that such a judge could only be tried in the regular court after the recommendation of the NJC.

In a judgment on Friday, a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal and dismissed the appeal by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the agency that was trying Nganjiwa.

The apex court held that the appeal lacked merit.