Disagreement had occurred between the Federal High Court, Abuja, and the Department of State Services (DSS) over the amount of money admitted into evidence in the ongoing trial of Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, a Supreme Court judge.
The money is the money said to be recovered from the residence of the former Supreme Court judge, Ngwuta, by the DSS.
It should be noted that DSS has raided the house of the Supreme Court judge on the 7th of Oct. 2016.
During the hearing, this Friday, Justice John Tsoho, stated that there were disparity in the Naira denomination in the court’s custody which was different from the amount the witness gave on Thursday while giving evidence.
Continuing he said, “I am just receiving the information that there was a problem with the exhibit because the amount announced by the prosecution in respect to exhibit 11h should have been N35,358,000, but when counted, it was N35,335, 840.
“So, it doesn’t agree with what the witness said as there appears to be a shortfall.”
There were reports that the money is N22,160 less the amount the witness gave.
During the cross-examination by the defence counsel, Mr Kanu Agabi (SAN), Mr John Utazi, an operative of the DSS, who stand as a witness, insisted that the amount was N35, 358,000, the naira denomination.
“I am not aware of any discrepancy between the money I recovered and the money tendered in court.
“My Lord, I stand by what I delivered to the court on Thursday because I meticulously counted the money before bringing it forward to the court.”
The witness also told the court that they left some amount of money in the house of the supreme court justice, Ngwuta after getting tired of the counting.
“There were pieces of monies that we left behind because we could not take all the money, after counting and counting, we were tired but what we left behind cannot be matched with what was taken away.”
When Agabi sought to know who the money they recovered belonged to, the witness said that ownership of the money was for the court to determine.
Mrs Olufemi Fatunde, who is the prosecuting counsel, asked the court for an adjournment since there was no need to re-examine the witness.
“When they finished counting the money on Thursday, it was late to convey it to the CBN since the bank has closed, and to avoid that, we want to close early since the exhibit was kept in court pending the end of today’s proceedings.”
The judge adjourned the matter until July 3 for continuation of trial.
It should also be noted that the DSS recovered various sums of money in both local and foreign currency, including N35, 385 million, £35, 915, 319,096 dollars, 50 South Africa rands, €280, 000, 380 Dirhams and 420 Dalases, from the house of Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, a Supreme Court judge.
Justice Ngwuta had been facing a 12-count charge bordering on money laundering, retention and concealment of various sums of money in local and foreign currencies.
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