Reps Remove Danladi Umar As CCT Chairman Amidst Controversy Over Quorum

The House of Representatives has removed Danladi Umar as the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) during Tuesday’s plenary session, invoking paragraph 17 (3), part 1, fifth schedule of the 1999 Constitution as amended, and section 22(3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act Cap C15 LFN 2004.

The cited provisions stipulate that a person holding the office of CCT Chairman can only be removed by the President following an address supported by a two-thirds majority of each house of the National Assembly.

Grounds for removal include inability to discharge the functions of the office, misconduct, or contravention of the Code of Conduct.

However, controversy surrounded the session, as fewer than 150 lawmakers were present in the chamber during the motion to remove Umar, according to The Cable.

This number falls significantly short of the 240 members (two-thirds of the 360-member House) required to meet the constitutional threshold for such a decision.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Senate has acknowledged a constitutional error in its motion to remove Umar, over allegations of misconduct.

The motion, sponsored by Senate Leader Senator Michael Bamidele Opeyemi last week, invoked Section 157(1) of the Constitution as the basis for Umar’s removal.

However, it was later discovered that the cited section pertains to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and other executive agencies, with no relevance to the Senate’s authority to remove the CCT chairman.