A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama, Abuja, has remanded former Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Justice Danladi Umar, in Kuje Correctional Centre over alleged corruption and abuse of office.
Justice Peter Kekemeke issued the remand order on Thursday after Umar was arraigned by the Federal Government on a four-count charge and pleaded not guilty to all the allegations.
According to the prosecution, the former CCT chairman allegedly abused his office by receiving illicit payments from contractors while serving as head of the tribunal.
The Federal Government alleged that Umar used his wife’s bank account to receive N5.5 million from a contractor who was awarded a contract to paint the headquarters of the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja in 2021.
Prosecutors further claimed that on January 25, 2024, Umar again used the same account to receive N6 million from another contractor handling the digitisation of the tribunal’s records.
In a separate allegation, the government accused the former tribunal chairman of directing a contractor to pay N2.43 million towards his daughter’s tuition fees at Baze University, Abuja.
The alleged offences are said to be contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Following Umar’s plea of not guilty, prosecution counsel, Christopher Mshelia, urged the court to remand the defendant and set a date for trial.
However, Umar’s lawyer applied for bail pending the determination of the case.
The prosecution opposed the immediate hearing of the bail application, arguing that it had only recently been served with the application and needed time to file a response.
After listening to both parties, Justice Kekemeke adjourned the matter until July 15, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application and ordered that Umar remain in custody at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending further proceedings.
