The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has finally taken a step towards charging Danladi Umar, the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, to court over alleged fraud and abuse of office.
The anti-graft agency arraigned a certain Mr. Ali Abdullahi, a personal assistant to Danladi, before a Judge in Abuja.
Abdullahi was charged with a 2-count charge, for providing false information to the EFCC, during its investigation of a case of false asset declaration by a former Nigerian Customs Officer, Rasheed Owolabi.
Count one reads: "That you Ali Gambo Abdullahi, sometimes in August 2013 at Abuja within the judicial division of the court did make a statement to one Abdulmajeed Ibrahim, a detective with the EFCC, while in the course of the exercise of the duty of his office that the sum of N1.8m paid into your Zenith Bank Account Number 1002849471 on December 12, 2012 by one Rasheed Owolabi was a payment made to assist you to settle your father's hospital bill; which statement you knew to be untrue and thereby committed an office contrary to section 39(2)(a) of the EFCC Act, 2004 and punishable under section (39) (2) (b) of the same act.
In what appeared to be a move to cover his boss and his own part in the act, Abdullahi first told the EFCC that the N1.8m transferred to him by Rasheed, was meant for the payment of the medical bill of his ailing father. In a strange reversal, Abdullahi later said it was only part payment for a car which his boss, Danladi, was trying to sell.
During his cross-examination by the EFCC, Rasheed said he paid the sum to the Danladi Umar, through a Zenith Bank account belonging to Abdullahi, with the account number: 1002849471, saying he paid the money after Mr. Umar demanded N10m as bribe, to influence his case before the tribunal.
Count 2 read: "That you Ali Gambo Abdullahi, sometimes in August 2013 at Abuja within the judicial division of the court did make a statement dated 13th August 2013 pertaining to N1.8m paid into your bank account by one Rasheed Taiwo, which is inconsistent with the statement you made on August 12th, 2013 to one Abdulmajeed Ibrahim, a detective with EFCC while in the course of the exercise of the duty of his office and thereby committed an offence contrary to section (39) (2) (b) of the EFCC Act 2004".
The EFCC appears to have moved to save face by arraigning Abdullahi. The commission came under heavy fire when it claimed it had not gathered enough facts to charge Danladi to Court, despite the CCT Chairman's statement which all but confirmed his complicity in the case.
Recall that several petitions were filed against Danladi, calling for his trial for allegedly collecting bribe, however none of these petitions broke the resolve of the EFCC to try him.
The past Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, had in 2014, given the go ahead to the EFCC, for Danladi to be trailed, when fellow judges at the CCT refused to seat with the chairman, saying the allegations against him, could taint them.
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