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  • Senate invokes Section 157 of 1999 Constitution for removal of CCT Chairman

    Senate invokes Section 157 of 1999 Constitution for removal of CCT Chairman

    The Senate on Wednesday invoked the provisions of Section  157 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended for the removal of Chairman of Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar.

    This followed adoption of a motion on “Invocation of Provision of Section 157(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic as amended for removal of the Chairman of CCT at a plenary on Wednesday.

    The motion was sponsored by Sen. Bamidele Opeyemi (APC-Ekiti) leader of the Senate.

    Opeyemi in the motion said that the CCT was saddled with sacred statutory responsibilities of maintaining a high standard of morality in government business.

    This, he said, was to ensure that the actions and behaviours of public officers conform to the highest standards of public morality and accountability.

    He said a statutory institution of such magnitude was expected to be an epitome of moral rectitude and should be seen to uphold virtues of integrity, probity and accountability.

    He, however, said the conduct of Danladi Umar, who is the Chairman of the Tribunal has fallen short of the requisite standard of a public officer to conduct the affairs of such a tribunal.

    He said it was worrisome that the senate has been inundated with series of petitions and allegations of corruption, misconduct against the Chairman through the Senate Committee on Ethics Code of Conduct and Public Petition.

    This, he said, had necessitated the 9th Senate to invite him to a series of its investigative hearings in order to unravel circumstances surrounding those allegations.

    According to him, Umar appeared before the committee only once and thereafter avoided subsequent invitations.

    He expressed concern over the alleged Umar’s absenteeism from office for more than one month, without permission and recuse to his position.

    He also expressed worry over the preponderance of corruption allegation , misappropriation and physical street brawl with a security man in the FCT vis-a-vis his current investigation by the EFCC, ICPC and the DSS.

    “All these are tantamount to acts of negligence and gross misconduct, unbecoming of a Chairman of such. reputable Tribunal.

    “Aware of the series of overwhelming allegations against the Chairman, President, Tinubu forwarded the name of Mr. Abdullahi Usman Bello to the Senate for confirmation as the new Chairman of the Tribunal.

    “And at the plenary sitting of the Senate on July, 4, his appointment was duly confirmed, hence the need for the erstwhile chairman to vacate the office for the substantive chairman to officially resume office.

    “Recall that by virtue of the provisions of section 157 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended,

    “Mr President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause or for misconduct.”

    Opeyemi said the invocation of the afore-mentioned constitutional provision in this circumstance, seems to be the only way out to safeguard the sacred image of the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

    This, he said, was in line with the resolve of the 10th Senate to uphold the rule of law and sustain the ideals of corporate governance structure in Nigeria.

    He said the eventual removal of Umar from office would pave the way for the official resumption of Bello as the new substantive Chairman of the Tribunal.

    Contributing, Deputy President of Senate, Sen.Barau Jibrin (APC-Kano) said the decision to invoke section 157 (1) to remove the CCT Chairman from office was a unanimous decision of the senate,adding that 84 senators endorsed his removal.

    Chief Whip of the Senate,Sen. Mohammed Monguno(APC-Borno) collaborated with the Deputy President of the Senate, saying that the senate had met the constitutional requirements to effect the removal of the CCT Chairman.

    President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio in his remarks said the senate had formed the quorum to effect the removal.

    He said opportunities had been presented to Umar to defend himself but he never showed up.

    Akpabio said his activities was unbecoming of a public servant having fought with a lady at plaza.

    Akpabio mandated the Clerk of Senate, Mr Ben Akabueze to communicate to President Bola Tinubu resolution of the Senate for necessary action.

  • Code of Conduct Tribunal set to prosecute 50 erring public officers

    Code of Conduct Tribunal set to prosecute 50 erring public officers

    The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) is set to arraign at least 50 public officers allegedly found to have breached their codes of office.

    Mr Atekojo Usman, Special Adviser on Media to Justice Danladi Umar, Chairman of the Tribunal, stated on Thursday in Abuja that affected officers would be arraigned for failure to honour invitations by the CCT.

    He stated that the tribunal held a session on Wednesday on six officials who had earlier failed to answer to summons sent to them.

    Only five of the six officials were present at the sitting, he added.

    “In continuation of its sittings, the CCT held its session on Oct. 19 where cases involving defendants from some ministries, departments and agencies were adjudicated upon.

    “The complete panel of the tribunal sat on Wednesday,’’ he stated.

  • Senate reopens assault petition against CCT boss, Danladi Umar

    Senate reopens assault petition against CCT boss, Danladi Umar

    The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, has reopened the case of assault levelled against the Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Mr Danladi Umar.

    Chairman of the Senate panel, Ayo Akinyelure, who addressed newsmen on the matter on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the case against Umar had been reopened.

    Recall that the CCT Chairman was seen in a viral video, allegedly assaulting one Clement Sargwak at the Bannex Plaza in Wuse 2, on March 29, 2021.

    In seeking redress, the victim, filed a petition against Umar through his lawyers to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petition to investigate .

    In his address, chairman of the committee said that: “There was a petition against the CCT Chairman that he assaulted a young Nigerian, Sargwak.

    “The Senate believes that nobody is above the law. Both the young and the old voted for us to represent their interest in the National Assembly.

    ” The CCT Chairman infringed on the right of a young Nigerian who had no money to approach the Court, brought his petition to the Senate.

    “Rather than appearing before our Committee, Umar went to Court claiming that the Senate had no right to put him on trial.

    “The Senate suspended the hearing on the matter till the outcome of the judgment. The High Court has now ruled the Senate has the right to continue the case.

    “The Senate decided to reopen the case because it was a declarative judgment. He was to appear before us today but instead, came with court papers claiming that he had appealed the judgment.

    “He has now told us through his lawyer that he will never appear before the Senate Committee because the matter is already before the Court of Appeal.

    “Instead of apologising to the victim and his family, and possibly settle the bills of their lawyers, he believes that he could use his position to suppress justice. We will never allow it,” Akinyelure said.

    Umar had included in the suit as stated in the originating summons dated July 13, 2021, the President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan, the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions as well as the Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami .

    In the suit with file no FHC/ABJ/ CS/671/2021 , Umar challenging “Senate’s Constitutional power to conduct investigation and purpose for which it is exercisable.”

  • Justice for the street fighter – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Justice for the street fighter – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Last week the Federal High Court, Abuja, per Justice Inyang Ekwo, ordered the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Danladi Umar to appear before the Senate in a probe on the petition that he was caught fighting in public. Justice Ekwo issued the aforesaid order while delivering judgment in a suit filed by Umar challenging the powers of the Senate to investigate him for fighting a security guard in public.

    In his suit against the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions and the Attorney-General of the Federation, the CCT chair had prayed the court that pursuant to sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria lacks the jurisdiction to investigate him. But while delivering his judgment last week, Justice Ekwo stated that Umar had no cogent reason to stop the Senate from carrying out its constitutional functions. The judge further said that Section 2 of the Code of Conduct Bureau Act exposed Umar to an investigation by the National Assembly. The judge held that as a public officer administering a law relating to the conduct of public officers, Umar’s disgraceful conduct should be investigated by the Senate. The Judge also said that Umar had no reason to institute the suit to stop the Senate from probing a public petition seeking justice. Holding that Umar is not above the law of the land, the Judge further stated: “As such, it will be illogical for him (Umar) to seek to stop the Senate probe as doing so will give an impression that he is above the law”.

    It is surprising that Umar was shamelessly praying to the court to stop the Senate from investigating him. You will recall that on March 29 2021, the CCT Chair Umar threw decency, dignity and decorum overboard and engaged a security guard in an open street brawl in broad daylight at the Banex Plaza, Wuse Abuja, to the astonishment of the bemused onlookers who could be heard admonishing Umar, *“Go away, go away, Oga go inside your car, respect yourself. You are not the most powerful person here, they will beat you here”*. The video which captured the fight made the rounds at that time. During the affray, Umar gave the security guard an upper cut which landed in his face and consequently sending the poor man landing and sprawling on the ground. Seeing the man sprawling on the ground, a visibly-angry Umar was not done with him yet. Just as the man was regaining his composure and was about getting up from the ground, Umar, the street fighter, further sprang to his feet in the fashion of a native wrestler, swiftly ran to his car, brought out a lethal weapon and stretched his hand to use it to smash the head of the security guard but thanks to Umar’s two police escorts, driver and some good Samaritans who swiftly used their hands to block Umar from committing what would have been a murder or a homicide. At the end of the fight the security guard was rushed to the hospital for treatment. I don’t know whether Umar was also rushed to the hospital for treatment.

    Following the unequivocal condemnation of Umar’s disgraceful conduct at that time by the general public, all have been expecting the National Judicial Council (NJC) to wield the big stick and fire Umar or at least suspend him from office pending the allegation against him. But unfortunately that hasn’t happened. Meanwhile Umar, in his arrogance, has not deemed it fit to apologize for his scandalous conduct. Instead of apologizing to the Bar, the Bench and the public for his disgraceful behaviour, Umar proceeded to institute a suit at the Federal High Court to pervert the course of justice. It is obvious that Umar believes that he is above the law of the land. He sees himself as an untouchable lawless leviathan. He is god. He is superior to everybody. He can do whatever he likes. For example, during the trial of former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen, Umar announced in open court that he would not grant an ex-parte order. Strangely enough, the same Umar secretly went behind Onnoghen’s lawyers and concocted a black-market ex-parte order which President Buhari relied on in illegally removing Onnoghen as the CJN. Umar actually threatened journalists covering judicial proceedings in his court at that time that he would imprison them and they would remain in incarceration until he (Umar) retires from service after about 28 years. An ethnic profiler, Umar threatened to deal with those whom he contemptuously labels “Biafra boys”. Shocked by the ethnic profiling, a visibly-angry co-convener of Bring Back Our Girls movement Aisha Yesufu released a video in April 2021 demanding for the immediate dismissal of Umar as CCT Chair.

    I cannot agree less. By fighting in public, Umar has brought the Bar and Bench into public ridicule, public odium and opprobrium. Consequently Umar should have been removed as Chair of the CCT. It is characters such as Danladi Umar that gives the judiciary a bad name. There have been insinuations on social media to the effect that Umar must have been provoked by the security guard or that the security guard was the first aggressor and assaulter of Umar. No matter the high level provocation or aggression, a Chairman of the CCT cannot descend to the low level of fighting in public contrary to the Code of Conduct of Judicial officers and the Judicial Oath which he swore to uphold and in fact made other judges to uphold as well. As a lawyer, Umar should have known that aggrieved persons are enjoined by the Constitution to seek remedy in a law court. Therefore if Umar had felt that the security man had wronged him he could have set the law in motion against him instead of resorting to violence. Resort to violence is a recipe for anarchy. The rule of law in contrast to the rule of force ought to reign always.

    The legal profession is a conservative profession that extols decency, public decorum, social comportment as the hallmark of excellence and success in the profession. By their special vocation as unbiased empire in the dispensation of justice, judges ought to be the most disciplined officers in the temple of justice. Like Caesar’s wife, judges should not only live and behave above board but manifestly be seen to live and behave above board. Judges are honoured and revered because of their impeccable character. This is why judges could refrain from joining issues with their critics in the media and public space. This is why judges religiously season their public utterances in public places with the ingredient of mortification. For example, Master of Rolls, Rt. Hon. A. T Denning was distinguished by both his exceptional lucidity of thought and his character. If Umar can fight in the street, what is the difference between him and the motor touts and political thugs who are always fighting in public?. If Umar can descend from his Olympian height to the low level of fighting in public, what advice will he be giving to his children and probably grandchildren? Or, what impressions will Umar’s children or grand-children have watching their father or grandfather fighting in public?

    The late eminent Justice Akinola Aguda tirelessly advocated that only worthy persons should be appointed to the Bench. Aguda believed that a single error in appointing unworthy persons to the Bench could ruin the whole administration of justice. Justice Aguda was right. In most countries, only the best and the brightest are appointed judges. Not so in Nigeria. In Nigeria the most important factor that plays out in the appointment of judges is Prof. Joseph Richard’s prebendalism. This was why a Supreme Court nominee was nevertheless appointed as a Supreme Court justice despite the fact that the man did not know the meaning of the notion “technicality in law” during the Senate screening/clearing exercise.

    I agree with Aguda that only men of character should be appointed to the Bench. For descending to the low level of fighting in the street, Danladi Umar is unworthy to be the Chairman of the CCT. If Umar is the Chairman of the CCT investigating the conduct of public officers it stands to reason that he should be fired when his conduct gives us reason to believe that he is unworthy to be the Chair of the CCT. On March 15 2010 Hon. Justice Idris Habib Shall of the Bauchi State High Court was suspended by the National Judicial Council (NJC) for fighting in public. So, why hasn’t the NJC fired Umar or at least suspended him pending the investigation of the serious allegation against him? The function of the judiciary as a dispenser of justice or as sustainer of good governance is endangered when a Chair of the CCT who ought to conduct himself responsibly in public throws decency overboard to engage in an open street brawl.

  • [BREAKING] Misconduct: Court orders chairman CCT to appear before Senate panel

    [BREAKING] Misconduct: Court orders chairman CCT to appear before Senate panel

    A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday dismissed a suit by the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Yakubu Umar seeking to stop the Senate from probing him on alleged misconduct.

    The Court held that as a public officer administering law, he is answerable to the Senate on moral standards.

    Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo, in a judgment in the suit, ordered the CCT boss to go and appear before the Senate and answer questions on a public petition brought against him by an aggrieved citizen.

    The judge held that his case seeking to stop the probe by the Senate lacked merit and was dismissed.

    The alleged incident happened at the Banex Plaza in Abuja on March 29, 2021.

    The court dismissed Umar’s suit on the grounds that it lacked merit as Umar had no cogent reason to stop the Senate from carrying out its constitutional functions.

    Justice Ekwo held that Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 constitution under which the CCT boss sought to be protected by the court did not confer any protection or refuge on him.

    The judge said that as a public officer administering a law relating to the conduct of public officers, Umar had no reason to institute the suit to stop the senate from probing a public petition seeking justice.

    Justice Ekwo also held that the Code of Conduct Bureau and Code of Conduct Tribunal Act 2010 were established by the Act of the National Assembly and as such, Umar was subject to investigation by the National Assembly.

    The judge further said that Section 2 of the Code of Conduct Bureau Act exposed Umar to an investigation by the National Assembly more than any other Nigerian.

    “As such, it will be illogical for him (Umar) to seek to stop the senate probe as doing so will give an impression that he is above the law”.

    Justice Ekwo held that the declaratory reliefs sought by Umar for an injunction against the senate could not be granted because the case lacked merit.

    The CCT Chairman had in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/ 671/2021, challenged the powers of the senate and three others to investigate him in an alleged assault he perpetrated against a security guard at Banex Plaza in Abuja.

    The four defendants in the matter were the senate, the senate president, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

    In the suit filed by his lawyer, Mr. Sunday Edward, Umar asked the court for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the senate from conducting investigations into allegations of assault levelled against him by a petition submitted to the senate.

    He specifically asked the court to determine whether the alleged case of assault formed part of the matters the senate was constitutionally empowered to investigate.

    He had also asked the court to determine whether the Senate and its committee were competent to investigate or invite him in relation to the investigation of the allegation of assault.

    He asked the court to declare that the purported case of assault that took place on March 29, 2021, did not form part of the matters the senate was constitutionally empowered to investigate.

    He further asked the court to declare that the senate’s moves to conduct an investigation in the matter were unconstitutional and amounted to the unwarranted usurpation of the functions of the police and of the court.

    However, counsel to the Senate, Kafayat Suleyman had urged the court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the senate had powers under Section 88 of the Constitution to investigate alleged misconduct by any public officer.

    On May 4, 2021, Umar, appeared before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petition.

    This was in response to a petition submitted against him by Clement Sagwak, a security guard he allegedly assaulted.

    Sagwak had, through his counsel, Timzing Ramnap, petitioned the Senate where he accused Umar of assaulting him.

    The senator representing Plateau North, Istifanus Gyang, laid the petition before the Senate on April 29, 2021.

    Umar was summoned by the panel and asked to come to defend himself.

    When he appeared before the committee, the CCT chairman said he had not been served the petition.

    He asked the panel to give him one week to study the detailed petition which was served on him at the session to “enable him to respond appropriately.”

    He was, however, given two weeks to defend the petition against him.

  • Danladi Umar: CCT chairman dancing naked in the market place – Godwin Etakibuebu

    Danladi Umar: CCT chairman dancing naked in the market place – Godwin Etakibuebu

    By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) was caught dancing naked in the market square, at the “tomatoes selling point”, in Abuja a few days ago.

    And there were no mad people’s professional-tenders; those with proficiencies proportionate to that of our own world acclaimed best Psychiatrist – the late Professor Thomas Adeoye Lambo, around to put him under chain.

    In the world of madness, there are three most needed instruments of remedy that help the patient to a quicker route of being caged, and not recovery, because recovery is always a longer journey through a very dark tunnel.
    The first is the Cain: Truth is that the only instrument that puts mad person on strict check (which is why the rural people of African communities would say that the only language a mad person understands is the Cain or horsewhip).

    The second is Chain: It is true that chain is a necessary “equipment” that needed to be permanent around the person, be it around the waist or one leg – it could sometimes be in both legs, depending on the severity of the madness. This instrument is very essential if you want to meet a mad person where you left him or her – otherwise he [or she] “goes to town of no return”.
    The third instrument, which is very necessary in the life of a mad person, is a permanent place of Residency. It could be Yaba Mental Rehabilitation Center or the Aro Mental Home in Abeokuta. There are many other Psychiatrists Homes around Nigeria; serving the purpose of prosecuting the third Instrument, the two mentioned above easily come to mind because of their popularity. And natives around the Africa continent have thousands of such Homes.
    The essential of the third Instrument is purely to separate the mad person from others – that is others who are sane totally; which is rare because the Psychologist would say that there is 5 minutes of madness for every sane person in every 24 hours.

    Madness is bad enough that anyone under that spell cannot be a predicted good neighbour. The best way to guarantee safety of all within the “neighbourhood of madness” is quarantining the identified mad individual within a guaranteed enclave of safety.

    Let us return back to the man caught dancing nakedly in the market square in Abuja for further analysis. But first, we need to know this man proper and we may be doing better by meeting him officially more than in his private capacity.

    The most tenure-guaranteed and secured office in Nigeria; under the Nigerian Constitution, is not the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is not an admission that the Nigerian President’s office has no guarantee of tenure, but what is being said here is that it is not the most secured office.

    Neither can we point to the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria; who doubles as the Chairman of the Nigerian Judicial Council, as the most secured in terms of tenure. This is in spite of the fact that the appointment of the Chief Justice of Nigeria is not an exclusive function of only one Institution. It is a tripartite responsibility of three Institutions – to wit: the Nigerian Judicial Council; which nominates the candidate, the Presidency; which forwards the candidate’s to the National Assembly, and the Nigerian Senate; which confirms the nominee.

    Yet that office’s tenure; as rigorous as it is, is not the most secured. If you are in doubt, check out the profile and credentials of Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen – former Chief justice of Nigeria.

    The most constitutionally secured office in the Nigerian Federation is the office of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Time and space surely will fail me to go into details of the instrumentality of his (it could be her also) appointment, but suffice to say that the beneficiary of that office is always recruited from the Nigerian Judiciary – the Bench, and once confirmed by the Nigerian Senate into that office, the person is no more a judicial official any more.

    Neither is he subject to the rules of the Nigerian Judicial Council any more, but instead, he becomes officially responsible to the Ministry of Justice, under the supervision of the Attorney General of the Federation (administratively) and Minister of Justice (politically). And in Nigeria, both offices are fussed into one.
    The Code of Conduct Tribunal was set up by Section 20 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, CAP C15, Volume 2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, to deal with complaints of corruption by public servants for the breaches of its provisions.

    It is this highly most placed man – Danladi Umar, the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal [CCT] that was caught in the video that went viral – humiliating, abusing and dehumanizing; in a most terrifying way, a security man at Banex Plaza, Wuse 2, Abuja, saying the guard was “rude”. The CCT chairman was seen [in the video] violently kicking and slapping the guard, before he was restrained and led into his car by police officers.
    As disgraceful as the action of the man dancing naked in the market square on the day in question was, narration that came from his office; a narration that turned the show of shame from private involvement into officialdom, spoke in volume – albeit perfidiously. And this narration, given by Ibraheem Al-Hassan; the official Spokesman of the CCT, forgot to take into cognizance that the man performed his show of madness at the Banex Plaza in Wuse 2, Abuja, in his private capacity, and not on official strength. All the same, let us look at how the Public Relations Officer of the Code of Conduct Tribunal presented the matter.

    Al-Hassan said the “altercations started over a parking lot which chairman met vacant, and it was directly opposite a shop where he wanted to make a purchase and to fix his phone”.
    “When the young security guard sighted him, he ordered that the chairman should not park his car in that particular space.” Al-Hassan said the security personnel could not provide a reasonable explanation why Umar could not park in the empty space. He said although the tribunal chairman did not identify himself, “the boy was rude in his approach and threatened to deal with chairman if he refused to leave the scene.”

    “Again, if the chairman had gone there to cause trouble or intimidate someone, as suggested, he would have gone there in his full official paraphernalia. But he went there alone with his younger brother,” the statement reads. “The policemen seen in the video clip were not the chairman’s police team. They were policemen operating around the plaza, who at first instance intervened before the arrival of the police team from Maitama police station.”

    Ibraheem Al-Hassan delved deeper into the narration of absurdity by saying that a mob in the plaza started throwing machetes and sharp objects at Umar’s car, “which led to a deep cut and dislocation in one of his fingers, causing damage to his car and smashing his windscreen”. “At the point he attempted to leave the scene, these same miscreants ordered for the closure of the gate, thereby assaulting him before the arrival of police team from Maitama police station.”

    The matter is now before the Nigerian Senate for “hearing,” in line with a petition brought by a Senator representing the victim of the attack; Clement Sargwak. Many Nigerians are not too sure of the extent of punishment that would be exerted on Danladi Umar, if the Senate finds him guilty – and that is if the Senate finds him guilty at all. That is on one hand. And in the other hand, has the Nigerian Senate the legal power to suspend, punish or sack Danladi Umar; the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal?

    What happens if the Senate returns the verdict of “not guilty” on this manifested Octopus; dangerous specie of Nigerian Public Official presiding in a Temple of Justice in Nigeria? Can we vow that the Executive of the Federation may not go comatose on this matter; as usual?

    If these entire hypotheses projected above happen; we are not saying it shall so much happened, what becomes the definition of justice to the victim of the Banex Plaza – Clement Sargwak? And what becomes the glory of expectation on higher Nigerian officials taking to the floor of dancing nakedly in the market places, in the future?
    For the sake of motherland – Nigeria, any mad dancer in the market place of opprobrium must be caged, and the time to do that starts now!

    Godwin Etakibuebu; a veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.
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  • Danladi Umar’s disgraceful behaviour, By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Danladi Umar’s disgraceful behaviour, By Sonnie Ekwowusi

     

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Last week the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Danladi Umar was found fighting in public. Umar threw decency to the wind and engaged a security guard in an open street brawl at the Banex Plaza, Wuse Abuja, to the astonishment of the bemused onlookers who could be heard admonishing Umar, “Go away, go away, oga go inside your car, respect yourself, You are not the most powerful person here, they will beat you here”. The video which captured the fight is still making the rounds. Umar fought the security guard. He gave the young man a heavy blow in his face which sent him landing on the ground. After the young man regained consciousness and got up from the ground, Umar still sprang to his feet, ran to his car, brought out a lethal object and stretched his hand to smash it on the head of the security guard but was prevented from doing so by his two police escorts, driver and some good Samaritans who swiftly used their hands to block him from probably committing murder. I gather that the security guard has been hospitalized.

    At the time of scribbling this piece there were insinuations on social media to the effect that the security guard was the aggressor and assaulter of Umar. But Umar’s misdemeanor is that he fought in public regardless of whether he was the aggressor or not. He cannot deny that. The video clip making the rounds is not lying. It is the evidence nailing Umar. Assuming the security guard was the aggressor and assaulter, Umar should not have started fighting him in public. The legal profession is a conservative profession that extols decency, public decorum, social comportment as the hallmark of excellence and success in the profession. By their special vocation as unbiased empire in the dispensation of justice, judges ought to be the most disciplined officers in the temple of justice. Like Caesar’s wife, judges should not only live and behave above board but manifestly seen to live and behave above board. Judges are honoured and revered because of their impeccable character. This is why judges refrain from joining issues with their critics in the media and public space. This is why judges do not attend any public events or make unguarded public utterances. For example, Master of Rolls, Rt. Hon. A. T Denning was distinguished by both his exceptional lucidity of thought and character. If Umar can fight in public what advice is he giving to his children or grandchildren? Or, what impressions will Umar’s children or grand-children have watching their father or grandfather fighting in public?

    No matter the provocation, a judge of a court of law or chair of a Tribunal must not descend to the low level of fighting in public. Therefore Umar’s disgraceful behavior last week stands unequivocally condemned. Not only is it ethically, professionally and judiciously despicable, Umar’s behavior has brought the Bar and Bench into public ridicule, odium and opprobrium. The security guard was simply exercising his lawful duty at the Banex Plaza. Umar’s car had pulled up and was wrongly parked. The security man on duty indicated to the driver of the car that the car was wrongly parked. That was all. And the only way Umar felt he could show to the guard that he (Umar) was a big man or a big judge was to alight from his car and started fighting the guard. As if the fight was not shameful enough, Umar through his personal assistant subsequently issued a statement casting aspersions on the security guard and other boys who rallied to his help when Umar was beating him and contemptuously labeling them “Biafran boys”. Shocked by the ethnic profiling, a visibly-angry co-convener of Bring Back Our Girls movement Aisha Yesufu is in her video demanding for the immediate dismissal of Umar as CCT Chair.

    It beats the imagination that a chair of the CCT should throw public decency and decorum over board in order to engage a small boy as young as his son in a physical combat in an open street contrary to the Code of Conduct of Judicial officers and the Judicial Oath which Umar not only swore to uphold but made other judges to uphold as well. Why the ethnic profiling? Why was Umar fanning the ember of secession at a time the Federal government is preaching against secession? As I earlier said, assuming the security guard was at fault, Umar should not have turned himself into an area boy to start fighting him in public for that matter. The function of the judiciary as a dispenser of justice or as sustainer of good governance is endangered when a chair of the CCT who ought to be a fearsome unbiased mortal in the causes of the citizenry, throws decency overboard and engages in open street brawl. Umar shot into public limelight in 2019 owing to his poor performance as the CCT chair. His poor performance, in my respectful view, stems from his character deficit- his incestuous narcissism, sheer arrogance, impious pride, un-wisdom and lust of dominion to crush and undue others.. For instance, after initially announcing in open court during the trial of former Chief Justice of Nigeria Walter Onnoghen that he would not grant an ex-parte order, Umar secretly went behind Onnoghen’s lawyers and concocted a black-market ex-parte order which President Buhari relied on in illegally removing Onnoghen. Also contrary to law, Umar threatened to jail journalists reporting the CCT proceedings for 28 years. He actually boasted in an open court that the journalists will languish in prison and may remain there until he (Umar) retires from service after about 28 years.

    Now, the same Umar was caught last week fighting in public. Umar’s disgraceful behavior brings to mind the lingering debate about the protection of the integrity of the judiciary vis-à-vis appointing unworthy persons to the Bench. The late eminent Justice Akinola Aguda was a tireless advocate of appointing worthy persons to the Bench. He believed that a single error in appointing unworthy persons to the Bench could ruin the whole administration of justice. I remember a paper he presented at the Lagos Island Club in January 1990. The title of that paper was: In Danger of Fiend and the Ghoul. In the aforesaid paper, he gave five reasons why the judiciary wobbles. Among the five reasons was appointment of unworthy people as judicial officers. Justice Aguda was right. In most countries, only the best and the brightest are appointed judges. Not so in Nigeria. In Nigeria what counts most in the appointment of judges is Prof. Joseph Richard’s prebendalism. This is why we were not surprised that a justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria who did not know the meaning of the notion “technicality in law” during the Senate screening/clearing exercise was still elevated notwithstanding his palpable misfit.

    Therefore the National Judicial Council (NJC) henceforth should ensure that only men and women of character are appointed judges in Nigeria. We need judges adored with the breastplate of decorum and discipline. We need judges whose public utterances are salted with temperance and mortification. In this regard, the NJC should wield the big stick and suspend or dismiss Umar for fighting in public. On March 15 2010 Hon. Justice Idris Habib Shall of the Bauchi State High Court was suspended by the NJC for fighting in public. Our judges should be people whose public conduct, public behavior and public utterance are incapable of eroding the confidence of the public in the judiciary. The era of Justices Kayode Eso, Chukwudifu Oputa, Andrews Obaseki, Augustine Nnamani, Anthony Aniagolu, George Adesola Oguntade, Muhammad Lawal Uwais, Niki Tobi at the Supreme Court is termed the golden era of the Supreme Court. Why? Because the aforesaid justices were men of intellectual versatility and impeccable character. Respect is reciprocal. Honour is reciprocal as well. Respect begets respect. Honour begets honour. A chair of the CCT who fights in public cannot earn any respect. We need judges with impeccable character not Hippy Hallet Judges who fight in public.

  • Assault: Police begin investigation on CCT chair Danladi Umar

    Assault: Police begin investigation on CCT chair Danladi Umar

    The Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Police Command has begun an investigation into a case of assault involving the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Mr. Danladi Umar and a security guard at the popular Banex Plaza in Wuse 2, Abuja.

    The CCT Chairman was under fire after he was seen in a viral video assaulting a security guard.

    In the viral video, Umar violently kicked the guard, before police restrained him and led him into his car.

    The CCT spokesperson, Ibraheem Al-Hassan in a statement said the security man was rude and had threatened Umar.

    However, in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Yusuf Mariam, the command would be fair and professional in the conduct of its investigation.

    “Following the incident of alleged assault involving the CCT Chairman and a security guard that took place at Bannex Plaza on Monday March 29th,2021, the command wishes to state categorically that discreet investigation is still ongoing, the statement says.

    “Hence, the Commissioner of Police CP Bala Ciroma wishes to reassure members of the public that the command will be professional, fair and thorough in its investigation.”

    The command appealed to residents to remain calm and allow the law to take its course.

  • CCT Chairman liable to five-year jail term over ‘Biafran Boys’ comment

    CCT Chairman liable to five-year jail term over ‘Biafran Boys’ comment

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has said the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Chairman, Danladi Umar, risk a five-year jail term for using “Biafran boys” to describe the traders he had an altercation with when he assaulted a security guard at Banex Plaza in Abuja.

    Umar was caught on video punching a security guard following a disagreement on the plaza’s parking space.

    The CCT Spokesperson, Ibraheem Al-Hassan, had in a statement said the guard threatened Umar, while some “Biafran boys” also harassed him.

    Hassan later said it was Umar who asked him to use “Biafran boys” in the statement.

    In a statement on Saturday, Falana said the phrase amounted to xenophobia which contravened the cybercrime law.

    Falana said section 26 of the Cybercrimes Act 2015, prohibits the use of “racist or xenophobic material” in any written or printed material.

    He added that such a person was liable to be prosecuted for the serious offence and penalty for the offence is five year’s imprisonment and a minimum N10 million fine.”

    The statement read, “The use of the words “Biafra Boys” in the statement (produced through a computer system or network) on the instructions of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and distributed to the media last week constitutes a contravention of section 26 of the Cybercrimes Act 2015.

    “The Act prohibits the use of “racist or xenophobic material” in any written or printed material which advocates, promotes or incites hatred, discrimination or violence, against any individual group of individuals, based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as a religion if used as a pretext for any of these factors.

    “The person alleged to have suggested the use of the xenophobic words is liable to be prosecuted for the serious offence. The penalty for the offence is five year’s imprisonment and a minimum N10 million fine.”

  • Alleged assault: Falana, Jibrin, Aisha Yesufu demand sack, prosecution of CCT Chairman

    Alleged assault: Falana, Jibrin, Aisha Yesufu demand sack, prosecution of CCT Chairman

    Eminent Nigerians have condemned the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Umar Danladi for physically assaulting a security guard at Banex Plaza in Wuse, Abuja.

    They also called for his immediate dismissal and prosecution by the Nigerian government.

    Recall TheNewsGuru (TNG) reported how Mr Umar was caught in a viral video clip kicking and slapping a security guard.

    Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has tasked the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, to take an action on the assault allegation leveled against Danladi Umar.

    He made this suggestion while speaking at a webinar orgainsed by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC). He urged the NBA to take the matter seriously.

    Falana said, “Just last night, and this is in the social media now, the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal was fighting in the market,”

    He added, “He (Mr Umar) slapped the security man in the market, and this has been shown to the whole world. The NBA must take this matter very seriously.”

    Speaking on Umar’s shameful act, Professor Ibrahim Jibrin, who is highly revered in the northern academia space, unequivocally demanded for the immediate sack of the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

    Jibrin made the call on Wednesday in a tweet on his verified Twitter handle @JibrinIbrahim17.

    According to the Prof. the CCT Chairman lack decorum and doesn’t deserve the highly revered post of a CCT Chairman.

    Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim was a member of the Electoral Reform Committee during the administration of former President Umaru Musa Yar’adua. He has observed elections in Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, Togo, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Guinea for the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

    Similarly, Nigerian Socio-Political activist, and Co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement, Aisha Yesufu, demanded Umar’s sack over the ‘Biafran Boys’ tag labelled on his victim of assault by his media aide.

    Responding on Wednesday in a video posted on Twitter, Aisha said Danladi did not have “the neutrality to manage that position”.

    “What the heck is going on? I mean all of this nonsense have to stop. That man should either be made to resign, be sacked or whatever! If he can think of a group of people and label them Biafran boys then he doesn’t have the neutrality to manage that position.

    “I am absolutely shocked. Did the chairman of the CCT Justice Danladi Umar just referred to people as Biafran boys? Really? What?

    “What a freaking hell is going on in Nigeria. In his mental mind, in his thoughts, he refers to people as Biafran Boys. Yet he has the guts to also put it in black and white. Oh my goodness!!!

    “There is so much and absolute disrespect in the country from charlatans, hooligans – a let my people go mentality. If it was based on merit and the same capacity that is used for everyone when they are entering primary, secondary schools and all of that.

    “You have cut off marks, some people have 4 or 6 or whatever, if it was based on competence that employment was being given, would he have been the justice of the code of conduct tribunal?

    “When he cannot even conduct himself in public. He assaulted someone, and then he comes to make a statement and then on that statement he poured petrol on fire,” she said.

    In an official statement released by his spokesman on Tuesday, Danladi’s camp alleged that the security man was rude and had threatened the CCT Chairman.