A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Maitama on Thursday ordered the remand of former Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Chairman, Danladi Umar, in Kuje prison over corruption charges.
Justice Peter Kekemeke gave the order after the Federal Government arraigned Umar on a four-count corruption charge bordering on abuse of office.
The prosecution alleged that Umar conferred undue advantage on himself while serving as CCT chairman, using his wife’s bank account to receive illicit payments from contractors engaged by the tribunal.
According to the charges, Umar allegedly collected N5.5 million in 2021 from a contractor hired to paint the CCT headquarters in Abuja, and a further N6 million on January 25, 2024, from a contractor who handled the digitisation of the tribunal’s records — both payments routed through his wife’s account.
He was also accused of directing a separate contractor to pay N2.43 million toward his daughter’s tuition fee at Baze University, Abuja.
The offences are said to be punishable under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Umar pleaded not guilty to all counts. Prosecution counsel, Christopher Mshelia, thereafter applied for his remand in a correctional facility and urged the court to fix a trial date.
His defence team, however, asked the court to admit him to bail pending the determination of the case. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) opposed the application, telling the court it had only just been served with the bail request and needed time to respond.
Justice Kekemeke subsequently adjourned the matter to July 15 for hearing of the bail application.
