The Supreme Court on Sunday announced the death of Justice Sylvester Nwali Ngwuta.
The Chief Registrar of the court, Hadizatu Uwani Mustapha, in a statement, said Ngwuta was admitted at the National Hospital, Abuja, a week ago.
She said before Ngwuta was moved to the intensive care unit of the hospital on Friday, he tested negative for the COVID-19.
“His remain has been deposited in the National Hospital mortuary pending the arrangement for his burial,” the statement reads.
“May the late Hon. Justice Nwali Sylvester Ngwuta rests in perfect peace and grants his family, Judiciary and the apex court to bear the irreparable loss,” the statement read.
Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday condoled with Ngwuta’s family and friends over his death.
The president, in a statement by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, joined the people and government of Ebonyi, the Nigeria Bar Association and members of the Bench in mourning the legal luminary.
He expressed regrets that the death of the eminent justice would leave a gap in the apex court considering his experience and dedication to the interpretation of the nation’s constitution.
Buhari, who expressed the belief that Ngwuta lived and served the country with his knowledge of the law, prayed that the almighty God accept his soul and comfort his family.
Born on March 30, 1951, in Amofia-Ukawu, Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Ngwuta was appointed Supreme Court Justice on March 22, 2011.
Ngwuta was among the judicial officers arrested and charged with corruption in 2016 following a raid in their residences by the Department of State Services.
He was in May 2018 discharged and acquitted by a Federal High Court in Abuja. The jurist subsequently returned to the bench of the Supreme Court.
