Nigeria’s anti-corruption court sued for corruption

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed two charges of corruption against the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Yakubu Umar.

The anti-graft agency filed the charges against the CCT Chairman on Friday at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

A copy of the charge sheet seen showed that the EFCC is accusing Umar of asking for and receiving bribes in the discharge of his official duties.

In the first count, the EFCC accused the CCT Chairman of asking for the sum of N10m from one Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo, sometime in 2012, in order to show the said Rasheed Taiwo favour in a charge pending against him.

In the second count, the CCT Chairman is charged with receiving the sum of N1.8m from the said Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo. The money was allegedly paid through Mr Danladi Umar’s Personal Assistant, Alhaji Gambo Abdullahi.

The offences were allegedly committed in the discharge of Mr Umar’s official duties and are contrary to Section 12(1) subsection (a) & (b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2003.

The case has yet to be assigned to a judge for hearing. If found guilty, the offence carries a seven-year jail term with no option of fine.

Umar, who presided over the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki on charges of false assets declaration, was accused during the trial of soliciting and receiving a bribe in a case he was presiding over.

On April 27, 2016, during a CCT sitting hearing in the Saraki trial, one of the Senate President’s lawyers, Ajibola Oluyede, filed a motion for the disqualification of Umar from the trial.

The motion was based on the allegation that Mr Umar had allegedly obtained a bribe from Rasheed Taiwo, who was a retired Customs official.

Taiwo had reportedly sent a petition to the EFCC in 2014, claiming that the CCT Chairman demanded a N10 million bribe from him.

The motion and the allegation had led to drama at the CCT with a visibly angry Umar denying the claim.

He went on to preside over the Senate President’s trial, eventually acquitting him of the charges of false assets declarations 14 months later.