The Federal Government has amended the charges against Justice Sylvester Ngwuta before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The amendment involved the reintroduction of a charge that had been earlier removed from the charges against the judge.
In the reintroduced charge, Justice Ngwuta is alleged to have given false information the Nigerian Immigration Service concerning his diplomatic passport with the purpose of procuring another one.
The judge, however, pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges against him, including the reintroduced charge.
During Tuesday’s hearing, two witnesses testified against the judge.
The first witness, Mr Tarimola Alao, an investigative officer with the Department of State Services, told the court how he took the statement of Justice Ngwuta a day after he was detained by the DSS.
When asked if his action had any bearing on the charges against Justice Ngwuta, the witness said his job was just to take the statement made by the judge after his arrest.
The next prosecution witness, Mr John Utazo, who is also a detective with the DSS and led the search of the judge’s residence, said during the search, a wardrobe that was chained with padlocks was discovered by the DSS team.
He said when the padlock was opened, he and his team discovered several bags filled with foreign currencies.
He added that his team found documents related to building plans and landed properties belonging to the judge.
The witness’ testimony was, however, stood down to enable the prosecution return with evidence from the search.
The case was subsequently adjourned to Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
