The House of Representatives has aligned with the Senate in approving the removal of Danladi Umar, Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
This decision followed a motion presented on Tuesday by the House Majority Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, invoking Section 17(3) of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution. Ihonvbere highlighted allegations against Umar, including a widely publicized altercation with a security guard at Banex Plaza Shopping Complex, Abuja.
The motion read, “Aware of the conduct of the Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal, who recently engaged in a public brawl with a security guard at Banex Plaza Shopping Complex, which necessitated an invitation from the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions, and after his first appearance, where he admitted to having been involved in the brawl, he refused to attend subsequent sittings, thereby frustrating the efforts of the Committee to investigate the allegations against him.”
Ihonvbere argued that Umar’s removal was necessary to preserve the reputation of the CCT, aligning with the 10th National Assembly’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and promoting corporate governance in Nigeria.
During the session, Mansur Soro raised a constitutional point of order, suggesting that the House had not followed proper procedure, as President Bola Tinubu should have formally requested Umar’s removal. However, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas ruled him out of order.
The motion was subsequently put to a vote, with majority support for Umar’s removal.
The Senate had previously passed a similar motion but faced criticism from legal experts for citing Section 157 of the Constitution instead of Section 17(3) of the Fifth Schedule. The Senate later rectified the error and completed the process for Umar’s removal.
