Seven years after presiding over the controversial trial and removal of Nigeria’s former Chief Justice, Justice Walter Onnoghen, former Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar, has found himself on the other side of the dock.
Insightlinks reports that the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sitting in Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday ordered Umar’s remand at the Kuje Correctional Centre after he was arraigned by the Federal Government on a four-count charge bordering on alleged abuse of office and corruption.
Justice Peter Kekemeke ordered the remand after Umar pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Federal Government accused the former CCT chairman of using his office to obtain financial benefits from contractors handling projects for the tribunal. Prosecutors alleged that he received N5.5 million through his wife’s bank account from a contractor engaged to paint the CCT headquarters in Abuja in 2021.
He was also accused of receiving another N6 million through the same account from a contractor involved in the digitisation of the tribunal’s records on January 25, 2024, and of directing another contractor to pay N2.43 million as tuition fees for his daughter at Baze University, Abuja.
The alleged offences are punishable under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Following his arraignment, prosecuting counsel Christopher Mshelia urged the court to remand Umar pending trial. Although the former tribunal chairman applied for bail, the prosecution sought time to respond to the application, prompting the court to adjourn the matter until July 15 for hearing on the bail request while ordering his remand in prison.
Umar’s arraignment has revived memories of one of Nigeria’s most contentious judicial episodes.
Insightlinks recalled that in January of 2019, while Umar was serving as Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, he issued an ex parte order that paved the way for the suspension of the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, over allegations of false asset declaration.
The order was followed by the swearing-in of Justice Tanko Muhammad as Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria by the late President Muhammadu Buhari, a move that generated widespread legal and political debate within and outside the country.
On April 18, 2019, the tribunal chaired by Umar convicted Onnoghen for breaching the Code of Conduct for public officers. The tribunal ordered his removal as Chief Justice of Nigeria, stripped him of his positions as Chairman of the National Judicial Council and the Federal Judicial Service Commission, ordered the forfeiture of funds in bank accounts linked to him, and barred him from holding public office for 10 years.
The judgment drew mixed reactions at the time. While some legal practitioners and anti-corruption advocates argued that it demonstrated that no public official was above the law, others questioned the procedure adopted in the trial and warned that it could undermine judicial independence.
Now facing corruption allegations himself, Umar’s appearance before the court marks a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the former tribunal chairman whose decisions once reshaped the leadership of Nigeria’s judiciary.
The case has been adjourned until July 15 for the hearing of his bail application.
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