FORMER Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar, has been remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre after pleading not guilty to a four-count corruption charge involving alleged abuse of office and contract-related fraud amounting to N15.59 million.
The presiding judge, U.P. Kekemeke, of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, ordered Umar’s remand on Thursday, July 9, after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned him on charges bordering on nepotism and conferring corrupt advantage on himself while serving as chairman of the tribunal and its Tenders Board.
The anti-graft agency alleged that Umar facilitated payments totalling N15,587,833.76 to his wife through companies that executed contracts awarded by the tribunal.
According to the charge, Umar allegedly caused Kurchmives International Limited, a subcontractor engaged for the painting of the tribunal’s headquarters, to pay N5.5 million into his wife’s Keystone Bank account in October 2021.
The EFCC further alleged that in January 2024, he directed Portal Realities Limited, described as a sister company of JTF Global Links Limited, which handled the tribunal’s records digitalisation project, to transfer N6 million to his wife’s Zenith Bank account.
The commission said the transactions amounted to corrupt self-enrichment in violation of Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Umar pleaded not guilty to all four counts.
Following his plea, EFCC counsel, Christopher Mshelia, asked the court to fix a date for trial and remand the defendant pending the commencement of proceedings.
Counsel to the defendant, S. Edward, informed the court that a bail application had already been filed and urged the judge to hear it immediately.
However, the prosecution said it had only just been served with the application and requested time to file a response.
Kekemeke consequently adjourned the matter until July 15 for hearing of the bail application and ordered Umar’s remand at the Kuje Correctional Centre.
Long-running allegations
Umar was appointed Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) in 2011 by former President Goodluck Jonathan, following the death of the tribunal’s pioneer chairman, Murtala Sani. He headed the tribunal for about 13 years, presiding over several high-profile cases involving public officers.
His tenure first came under scrutiny in 2013 after the EFCC began investigating allegations that he solicited a N10 million bribe from retired Deputy Comptroller of Customs, Rasheed Owolabi, who was facing trial before the tribunal over alleged false asset declaration.
According to the allegations, Owolabi reported the demand to law enforcement authorities and subsequently paid N1.8 million into the bank account of Umar’s Personal Assistant and Protocol Officer, Ali Gambo Abdullahi, as part of a monitored operation.
The EFCC questioned Umar several times over the allegations but initially charged only his aide. In July 2015, Abdullahi was arraigned before an FCT High Court on charges bordering on conspiracy, bribery and abuse of office. The commission alleged that he received the N1.8 million on behalf of Umar, although both men denied wrongdoing.
In March 2017, during Abdullahi’s trial, an FCT High Court admitted into evidence his earlier statement to EFCC investigators implicating Umar in the alleged bribery. The court dismissed Abdullahi’s claim that the statement had been obtained under duress.
Despite the investigations, the EFCC informed the Federal Government on two occasions that it lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute Umar. In March 2015, the commission wrote through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, stating that the allegations against the tribunal chairman amounted to mere suspicion.
The anti-graft agency reiterated that position in April 2016, saying the available evidence was insufficient to sustain a criminal case against Umar, although it maintained that there was a prima facie case against Abdullahi, who, it said, could not satisfactorily explain why an accused person standing trial before the tribunal transferred money into his personal bank account.
The allegations resurfaced in February 2018, when the EFCC filed fresh charges against Umar at the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing him of receiving the alleged N10 million bribe through his aide. The move appeared to mark a shift from the commission’s earlier position that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him.
The renewed prosecution came while Umar was under public scrutiny for presiding over the high-profile false asset declaration trial of former Senate President Bukola Saraki. Some civil society groups and legal commentators had questioned whether Umar should continue hearing the case while facing unresolved corruption allegations.
He, however, remained on the bench and, in June 2017, acquitted Saraki of all 18 counts. The Court of Appeal later affirmed most of the tribunal’s decision before the matter proceeded to the Supreme Court.
Beyond the bribery allegations, Umar’s tenure was also dogged by accusations of procurement irregularities, financial mismanagement and abuse of office. In 2015, an investigation by The ICIR detailed petitions by former officials of the tribunal accusing him of awarding contracts without due process, victimising staff who questioned procurement practices and ignoring recommendations of an internal committee that reportedly uncovered financial irregularities.
Umar denied the allegations, while the tribunal’s management insisted due process was followed in its operations.
But despite the several allegations against him, Umar remained chairman of the tribunal until 2024, when President Bola Tinubu suspended him following disciplinary recommendations by the National Judicial Council (NJC) over misconduct.
He was subsequently removed from office, and Mainasara Kogo was appointed acting chairman of the tribunal.
The charges filed on Thursday are separate from the earlier alleged N10 million bribery case.
Instead, the EFCC alleges that between 2021 and 2024, while serving as chairman of the tribunal and head of its Tenders Board, Umar corruptly benefited from contracts awarded by the CCT by directing contractors to transfer N15.59 million to bank accounts belonging to his wife.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M