•CCT chairman, Danladi Umar
The House of Representatives today, Tuesday, November 26, asked the President to sack Danladi Umar, the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), for misconduct.
The House resolution at plenary agreed with the position earlier taken by the Senate on the matter, reports The Nation.
Acting on the provisions of paragraph 17 (3), PT 1, Fifth Schedule to the Constitution (as amended) and section 22 (3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act Cap C15 LFN, the Senate recently passed a resolution asking the President to remove Umar as the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
The law requires the parliament to forward an address, supported by a two-thirds majority of the Senate and House of Representatives, which shall be acted upon by Mr. President for the removal of Mr. Yakubu Danladi Umar as the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal for misconduct.
The motion to support the position earlier taken by the Senate was moved by the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo).
Ihonvbere said the Code of Conduct Tribunal is one of the key components of Federal Institutions in the country, saying, “It is saddled with the statutory responsibilities of maintaining high standards of morality in the conduct of government business and ensuring the actions and behaviours of public officers conform to the highest standards of public morality and accountability.”
He said that a Statutory Institution of such magnitude is expected to be an epitome of moral rectitude and virtues of integrity, probity, and accountability, however, the official conduct of Mr. Yakubu Danladi Umar, 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 the conduct of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, who recently engaged in a public brawl with a security guard at the Banex Plaza Shopping Complex, necessitated an invitation from the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions.
The House Leader said that after his first appearance, during which he admitted to having been involved in the brawl, he refused to attend subsequent sittings, thereby frustrating the committee’s efforts to investigate the allegations against him
He stressed that by the provisions of section paragraph 17 (3), PT 1, Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and section 22(3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act Cap C15 LFN 2004, Mr. President is mandated to act on an address supported by a two-thirds majority of the Senate and House of Representatives and praying that the Chairman be so removed for misconduct.
He argued that the invocation of the aforementioned constitutional provision in this circumstance seems to be the only way out to safeguard the sacred image of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, in line with the resolution of the 10th National Assembly.
