Court declines request by CCT Chairman, Danladi Umar, to halt Senate Probe over assault  

A Federal High Court siting in Abuja on Tuesday declined the request of Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Umar, to halt his investigation by the Senate of the Nigerian National Assembly on allegations of public assault. The court held that the Senate has the power to investigate the CCT chairman on the allegation of assaulting a security guard at a shopping mall in Abuja.

The presiding Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Inyang Ekwo, in his judgement on Tuesday, stated that the CCT chairman failed to display high moral public standards by his conduct and with the Code of Conduct Bureau being a product of an Act ratified by the National Assembly, it, therefore, has powers to investigate his conduct.

The judge held that the suit by Umar seeking to stop the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions from investigating him lacks merit, and therefore, dismissed the suit.

Danladi Umar had approached the court to question the powers of the Senate to investigate him on an allegation of assault on a security guard at Banex Plaza, Abuja. He also requested the court to issue an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Senate, its members, and agents from conducting or continuing to conduct investigations into the allegations of assault against him through a petition to the Senate.

Umar wanted the court to determine whether the alleged case of assault which took place at Banex plaza, Abuja, on March 29, 2021, formed part of the matters the Senate is constitutionally empowered to investigate, as it’s not subject to the provision of section 88 and 89 of the 1999 constitution.

The assaulted victim, Clement Sargwak, alleged that he was assaulted by the CCT Chairman and a policeman attached to him in March 2021 at the Banex plaza, Abuja, where he worked as a security guard. Sargwak said Umar assaulted him while performing duties, after he told the CCT chairman that his car was wrongly parked and he needed to repark.

Danladi Umar had ignored the invitation of the Senate Committee and rather went to court to forestall the issuance of warrant of arrest by the Senate through the police.