The House of Representatives has agreed with the Senate’s decision to remove Umar Danladi, the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
This resolution followed a motion introduced by the Majority Leader of the House, Julius Ihonvbere, on Tuesday.
Ihonvbere’s motion called for the invocation of Section 17(3) of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution and highlighted several offenses committed by the CCT chairman, including a public altercation with a security guard at the Banex Plaza Shopping Complex in Abuja.
Recognizing the conduct of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, who was recently involved in a public altercation with a security guard at Banex Plaza Shopping Complex, which led to his summons by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions.
While he initially appeared and admitted to his involvement in the incident, he later refused to attend further hearings, hindering the Committee’s investigation into the allegations against him,” the motion stated.
In his motion, Ihonvbere argued that the removal of Danladi Umar was “the only viable solution to protect the integrity of the Code of Conduct Tribunal,” aligning with the 10th National Assembly’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and promoting strong corporate governance in Nigeria.
After the motion was presented, Mansur Soro raised a constitutional point of order, stating that the House was not adhering to proper procedure. He emphasized that President Bola Tinubu should have formally written to the House to request the removal of the CCT chairman.
However, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas overruled him. When the motion was put to a vote, it was carried by the majority.
It is worth noting that a similar motion had previously been introduced and approved in the Senate.
The Senate’s initial resolution was criticized by senior lawyers due to an error, as it referenced Section 157 of the Constitution instead of Section 17(3) of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution.
Subsequently, the Senate corrected the mistake and followed the appropriate procedure to finalize the removal of the CCT chairman.
