MAN IN THE NEWS: Danladi Umar, the CCT ‘boxer’ who removed Onnoghen as CJN

On Monday, Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), was caught on video as he angrily stepped out of his car at Banex Plaza, Wuse 2, Abuja, to execute “jungle justice” on a security guard who had told him his vehicle was parked in the wrong space. Visibly irked, Umar, who had no access to his gavel at that moment, resorted to his bare hands and descended on the guard for allegedly being rude to him. The controversial judicial officer must have thought of justice delayed is justice denied; so he was seen delivering the ruling right there at the parking lot of the plaza with his security details hurriedly drafted as distinguished members of the jury. They kicked, punched and slapped Clement Sargwak, the 22-year-old guard.

Appeals by other security officers at the scene fell on deaf ears. ”The code of conduct enforcer” was said to have gone back to his vehicle to get an iron bar to hit the guard. Umar was restrained, but “His Lordship” would not let go. He insisted that the guard must be led to the Golgotha and crucified — just a few days to Easter. When the TheCable spoke with the guard, on Tuesday, he had not resurrected from the trauma and injuries he sustained from the incident. He was hospitalised.

“He (Umar) said he is going to jail me; that he has jailed lots of people and they cannot come out unless he says so. He said he is the one that is fighting Saraki (Bukola Saraki, former senate president) and many people. I have an injury on my chest, my mouth and my neck. Since that Monday I have been in the hospital treating myself. I am even in the hospital now,” the guard said.

CODE OF CONDUCT IN THE MUD; ENGLISH GRAMMAR MURDERED
In his defence, Ibraheem Al-Hassan, CCT spokesperson, said the security man was rude and could not provide a reasonable explanation why Umar should not park in the space. In addition, Al-Hassan said the guard threatened Umar. But the 22-year-old guard was not the only victim, the English grammar was murdered in broad daylight.

The official statement issued by Al-Hassan to exonerate his principal was littered with grammatical blunders and ethnic slurs. While attempting to help “Pontius Pilate” wash his hands off the crucifixion of the guard in the “video cliff”, the image-maker and crisis manager of the CCT added insult to injury. Al-Hassan said his principal was also assaulted by some miscreants and BIAFRAN boys and should also be pitied like the guard whom he referred to as a low personality.

“Again, if chairman had went there to cause trouble or intimidate some one, as suggested in the report, he would have gone there in his full official paraphernalia, but he went there alone with his younger brother,” Al-Hassan said.

But Umar is not new to the news. He had sat over controversial trials. Perhaps, the most controversial being the trial of Walter Onnoghen, former chief justice of Nigeria (CJN). Umar had also threatened to jail journalists covering the proceedings.

THE ONNOGHEN SAGA
Umar was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan after he was recommended by the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Federal Judicial Service Commission.

On September 18, 2015, Umar made history by becoming the first CCT chairman in the country to issue an arrest warrant against a sitting senate president. He had ordered the arrest of former Senate President Bukola Saraki who failed to appear before the tribunal over alleged false declaration of assets. The tribunal eventually discharged and acquitted Saraki.

In 2019, the federal government began the prosecution of Onnoghen at the CCT on a six-count charge bordering false asset declaration. Before the commencement of his trial, TheCable reported that the Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative (ARDI), a civil society group, had launched a legal move to remove the former CJN.

Less than 24 hours after the report, the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) announced that it had received a petition written against the then CJN. Subsequently, charges were filed against him at the CCT and he was suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari based on a controversial order issued by the tribunal. During the trial, Onnoghen had asked Umar to recuse himself from the case, describing the CCT chairman as a “tainted arbiter” who was being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged bribery.

The National Judicial Council (NJC) eventually recommended Onnoghen for compulsory retirement after deliberating on a petition by the EFCC which alleges “financial impropriety, infidelity to the constitution and other economic and financial crimes related laws” against the judge.

But Onnoghen denied all allegations and resigned in April.

The former CJN later said he was removed from office over the rumour that he met with Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the build-up to the 2019 general election.