The misconduct of Danladi Umar, the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), has forced a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong and an activist, Aisha Yesufu, to demand his removal from office.
Mr Umar, was seen in a social media video clip earlier in the week assaulting a security guard in Abuja over a parking lot.
The clip recorded from the second floor of the building at Banex premises showed the furious CCT chief kicking and slapping the yet-to-be identified guard who asked him to repark his vehicle after he drove into a space not meant for him.
Denying assaulting the guard in a statement by the Head, Press and Public Relations of the CCT, Ibraheem Al-Hassan, Mr Umar who gave his own side of the story claimed he was the one assaulted, despite video evidence to the contrary.
Umar also played the ethnic card when he described those who berated his misconduct at the scene as Biafra boys, in a bid to polarize the incident condemned by many on social media.
“Our attention was drawn on a report from some online publication with a video clip suggesting the Chairman assaulted a security guard at Banex Plaza. To start with, the said plaza has been his usual place of visits for the past 18 years for shopping and repairs of his phones, and in all these periods there has never been any time he had any turmoil with anybody,” Mr Al-Hassan explained.
“Unfortunately, Monday’s altercations started over a parking lot, which the Chairman met vacant and it was directly opposite a shop he want (sic) to make a purchase and to fixed (sic) his phone, when the young security guard sighted him, he ordered that the Chairman should not pack (sic) his car in that particular empty space, but when the Chairman asked why, the security guard couldn’t convince the chairman.
“Although the Chairman didn’t identify himself, because to him it was needless and it was a place he visited often, the boy was rude in his approach and threatened to deal with the Chairman if he refused to leave the scene.
“Again, if the Chairman had gone there to cause trouble or intimidate someone, he would have gone there in his full official paraphernalia, but he went there alone with his younger brother.
“The policemen in the video were not the Chairman’s police team, they were policemen operating around the plaza.
“The Maitama police station personnel also came as the few policemen in the complex were apparently overwhelmed by the mobs, consisting of Biafran boys throwing matches and shape object to his car, which led to deep cut and dislocation in one of his fingers, causing damage to his car, and smashing his windscreen.
“At a point he attempted to leave the scene, these same miscreants, Biafran boys, ordered for (sic) the closure of the gate thereby assaulting him before the arrival of the police team from Maitama police station,” he added.
For the legal practitioner, the conduct of Umar amounts to thuggery hence he is unfit to continue to preside over the CCT.
“Mr. Danladi Umar has to quit his position. He lacks the discipline and reputation to lead the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT),” Mr Effiong said on Twitter. “CCT is meant to hold public officers to ethical standards and moral rectitude.
“The head of the CCT should not be associated with thuggery and bigotry,” he added.
Mrs Yesufu demanding his removal said the position requires neutrality which he does not possess.
“Chairman of the Code of Conduct tribunal refers to citizens as Biafran Boys? This is the height of it!,” She wrote on Twitter. “Justice Danladi Umar needs to be removed from office! He has shown his bias and his position requires neutrality.”
