Removal of CCT Chairman: Senate corrects mistake, cites relevant section of Constitution

The Nigerian Senate has corrected itself in the removal of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, Danladi Umar, from office over alleged misconduct.

A motion sponsored by the Senate Leader, Senator Michael Bamidele Opeyemi, on Wednesday last week, cited Section 157(1) of the Constitution for Danladi Umar’s removal from office.

However, the section was later discovered to have no nexus with the powers of the Senate to remove the CCT chairman.

Section 157(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria bothers on the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, and other agencies within the executive arm of government, while the CCT is an arm of the judiciary.

To correct the mistake, Senator Opeyemi in a motion on Tuesday sought for activation of paragraph 17(3), PT 1, Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

This implies that the Senate is correcting its resolution to remove the chairman of the CCT on the grounds of misconduct as debated by senators through resolution S/RES/2/3624, dated Wednesday, 20th November, 2024.

To affirm the removal of the CCT chairman, the Senate corrected the mistake in its resolution S/RES/2/36/24 dated Wednesday, 20th November, 2024 where Section 157 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was wrongly cited.

The Senate further resolved the concurrence of the House of Representatives to this resolution in accordance with paragraph 17(3) PT1, Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended and Section 22(3) Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act CAP C15, LFN 2004.

The Senate urged Nigerians to disregard misinformation or confusion regarding the mistake in its resolution regarding the removal of Danladi Umar from office as Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

In his remarks, Senate President Godswill Akpabio thanked the senators for their commitment to doing the right thing, and affirmed the CCT chairman’s removal.

Removal of CCT Chairman: Senate corrects mistake, cites relevant section of Constitution