Nwali Sylvester Ngwuta, CFR (30 March 1951 – 7 March 2021) was a Nigerian

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and Justice of the

Supreme Court of Nigeria The Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) is the highest court in Nigeria, and is located in the Central District, Abuja, in what is known as the Three Arms Zone, so called due to the proximity of the offices of the Presidential Complex, the National Ass ...

. He served on the Supreme Court from 2011 until his death in 2021.

Early life

Justice Sylvester was born in 1951 in Amofia-Ukawu,

Onicha Onicha is a Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. It has an area of 476 km2 and has a population of 236,828 according to the 2006 census. The postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries ...

local government area of

Ebonyi State Ebonyi State ( ig, Ȯra Ebonyi) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by Benue State, Enugu State to the west, Cross River State to the east and southeast, and Abia State to the southwes ...

, South-Eastern Nigeria. He obtained a bachelor's degree in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

from

Obafemi Awolowo University Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal government-owned university that is located in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife ...

and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

, the Nigerian bar in 1978 after he graduated from the

Nigerian Law School The Nigerian Law School is an educational institution set up by the Government of Nigeria in 1962 to provide a Nigerian legal education to foreign-trained lawyers, and to provide practical training for aspiring Legal Practitioners in Nigeria. ...

Law career

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. In October 1995, he was appointed 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 in May 2013, he was appointed to the bench of the

as Justice. He presided over the ruling of the Supreme Court that affirmed

Olusegun Mimiko Olusegun Rahman Mimiko ( yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Mímikò ; born 3 October 1954), is a Nigerian doctor and politician, he was the senatorial candidate of the Zenith Labour Party for Ondo Central District in the 2019 Senate elections. He served as t ...

as the governor-elect of

Ondo State Ondo State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Oǹdó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast, Edo State to the east, Delta State to t ...

in the May 2013 governorship election. He also presided over the ruling of the Supreme Court that affirmed

Kayode Fayemi John Olukayode Fayemi (born 9 February 1965) is a Nigerian politician who served as Governor of Ekiti State from 2018 to 2022. He previously served in office between 2010 and 2014 before losing re-election to Ayodele Fayose. He was also the M ...

as the governor-elect of

Ekiti State Ekiti State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkìtì) is a state in southwestern Nigeria, bordered to the north by Kwara State, to the northeast by Kogi State, to the south and southeast by Ondo State, and to the west by Osun State. Named for the Ekiti peo ...

in the June 2013 governorship election and was supported by Justices

Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad Ibrahim Muhammad Tanko (born 31 December 1953) is a Nigerian jurist, who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 2006 to 2022 and as Chief Justice of Nigeria from 2019 until his resignation in June 2022 citing ill-health as the ...

and Suleiman Galadima. He was arrested by the Department of State Security Services (DSS) on 8 October 2016 on allegations of bribery and corruption. However, the Court of Code Tribunal (CCT) ruled in May 2018 that only the National Judicial Council could determine whether or not Ngwata would face trial. In September 2019, Ngwuta resumed his duties as a Supreme Court Justice after a three-year suspension.

Membership

*Member,

Nigerian Bar Association The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a non-profit, umbrella professional association of all lawyers admitted to the bar in Nigeria. It is engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria. T ...

*Member,

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associat ...

*Member,

Nigerian Body of Benchers The Nigerian Body of Benchers is a professional body concerned with the admission of successful candidates at the Nigerian Law School Bar Final Examination into the Legal Proffession. Members of the body are called ''Benchers''. The body also re ...

References

1951 births 2021 deaths Nigerian judges Nigerian jurists Obafemi Awolowo University alumni Nigerian Law School alumni People from Ebonyi State Supreme Court of Nigeria justices {{Nigeria-bio-stub

Early life

Law career

Membership

See also

References