Ohaneze Ndigbo asks Buhari to sack Danladi Umar because he lacks moral authority to head CCT

OHANEZE Ndigbo has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Danladi Umar the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) because he lacks the moral authority to head the body as he faces charges himself.

In January, President Buhari suspended the chief judge of Nigeria Justice Walter Onnoghen and replaced him with Justice Tanko Mohammed, who was sworn-in in an acting capacity. Justice Onnoghen has been involved in intense political jockeying with the government that involved him being charged before the CCT, over which Mr Umar presides.

However, last year, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed charges against Mr Umar, over a N10m bribery case. In a swift response to the charges, the attorney-general of the federation wrote to acting EFCC chairman Ibrahim Magu and the commission's solicitor Festus Keyamo, asking them to furnish his office with details of who engaged or issued them with authority to file the corruption charges.

In two separate letters to the secretary to the government of the federation in 2015 and 2016, the EFCC had cleared Mr Umar of any wrongdoing in the alleged N10m bribery allegation made against him by a defendant, Rasheed Taiwo Owolabi, who was standing trial on false asset declaration. Other EFCC documents show that in 2016, a fresh investigation was conducted into the same N10m bribery allegation and the same anti-graft agency in its second report absolved Mr Umar of any wrongdoing, adding that the bribery allegation against him remained a mere suspicion.

However, with Mr Umar now very much in the news and presiding over the Justice Onnoghen case, Ohanaeze Ndigbo spokesman Chuks Ibegbu said he lacked the moral grounds to head the CCT. Mr Ibegbu insisted that Mr Umar, who was still on trial for corruption charges, lacked the moral ground to try Justice Onnoghen.

He added: "Since Umar is still on trial for corruption, he has no business to still head the bureau until he clears himself of corruption charges. Umar has no moral right to try the chief justice of Nigeria Walter Onnoghen, none at all.”

Mr Ibegbu warned against the interference in the judiciary by the executive arm of government will spell doom to the administration of justice in the country. Mr Umar has been criticised as an appendage of the government whose actions compromise the independence of the judiciary.