Justice Peter Kekemeke of the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Maitama has ordered the remand of former Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar, at the Kuje Correctional Centre.
Umar was remanded on Thursday following his arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of conferring undue advantage on himself while serving as chairman of the tribunal.
The former CCT boss was brought before the court on a four-count charge and pleaded not guilty to all allegations.
EFCC counsel, Christopher Mshelia, asked the court to remand Umar at the correctional facility and grant the prosecution time to prepare its response to the bail application filed by the defence.
However, counsel to Umar informed the court that a bail application had already been filed on behalf of his client and urged the court to consider the request.
The prosecution objected, stating that it had only recently received the bail application and required time to respond.
Justice Kekemeke subsequently adjourned the matter until July 15 for hearing of the bail application, while ordering that Umar remain in custody at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the court’s decision.
The Senate had in November 2024 invoked the provisions of Section 157 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended and called for the removal of Umar as chairman of the CCT.
Senator Opeyemi Bamidele who had moved the motion , said the conduct of Umar, who is the Chairman of the Tribunal had fallen short of the requisite standard of a public officer to conduct the affairs of such tribunal.
He said it was worrisome that the Senate was 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.
(Ripples)