No Evidence To Prosecute CCT Chair On Corruption Allegation – AGF

The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, on Tuesday told the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Public Petitions that his office has no substantial evidence to prosecute the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar, over allegations of corruption levelled against him by Anti-Corruption Network.


Malami, who made the disclosure when he appeared before the committee yesterday, said investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) could not establish any evidence that would warrant the prosecution of the CCT judge.
“Cases are prosecuted on the basis of facts and not on the basis of suspicion,” he said.
The Minister in his presentation said: “We wish to state from the onset that the office attorney-general identify each association in whose purpose is to fight corruption by the way of undertaking we have committed ourselves and being accommodated in that respect.
“We also wish to state for the record that presumption of law as it is relates with the constitutionality is embedded in section 36 of the constitution, section 36 subsection 5 which is based on presumption of innocence until the contrary is proved.
“Presumption on the receipt of the copy of the petition we have taken steps to invite the appropriate authorities inclusive of the EFCC and demanded for their input arising from the petition that was received in that respect.
“I’m happy to bring to the notice of the committee that EFCC has provided opinion on the basis of which we acted, a copy of that letter I believe has been made available to the committee. It is dated 5th March 2015,” Malami said.
Earlier, the executive secretary of the Anti-Corruption Network, Ajulo Ajulo, told the House committee that they were whistle blowers and ‘’have fought corruption both locally and globally. We have fought corruption in primary school and in the Federal Executive. We have done this over”
He told the lawmakers that, ‘’We are here to adopt our petition with this honourable committee, we are also to say that committee should use our petition to investigate and verify all the accusations, our organisation is not into black mail, it is not sectional and selective in our fight against corruption.
“One of the major issues we have here in our petition on and as stated we cannot understand why directive by the AGF is only focusing on the personal assistant on the chairman of CCT, one Ali Gambo and not the chairman himself.
‘’Mr. Chairman we urge this committee to please ask the Chairman of CCT to produce the original of the following documents which are; one advanced payment vouchers and other voucher, from 2011 to 2014, I will beg to stop here for now”.

Chairman of the public petitions committee, Hon. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, asked the Anti-corruption Network to furnish the committee with its certificate of registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
This is the third time the committee is sitting on the petition as the petitioner on two previous meetings failed to produce evidence. The group had petitioned the House alleging that the CCT chairman had demanded for N10 million bribe and was also guilty of corruption in the management of the Tribunals finances.