Senate noted that the section it relied upon pertains to the removal of specific public officials, not the CCT chairman
By Kehinde Okeowo
The Nigerian Senate has owned up to its error while advising President Bola Tinubu to sack the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Umar Danladi over allegations of corruption and misconduct.
The red chamber of the National Assembly made the admittance while the Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, was speaking on the flour of the house recently.
Senate, however, insisted that the error does not invalidate its recommendation of the sack of the embattled CCT Chairman.
The Senator Goodwill Akpabio-led senate last Wednesday, invoked Section 157 (1) of the Nigerian Constitution as the legal basis for their resolution.
However, at plenary on Tuesday, Bamidele admitted that the upper federal legislative chamber made a “mistake”.
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According to him, the section it relied upon while making the recommendation pertains to the removal of specific public officials, not the CCT chairman.
He called on the Senate to rescind the earlier constitutional provision and adopt the correct legal references, saying the appropriate sections to support the resolution were Section 17 (3) of the Nigerian Constitution and Section 22 (3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act 2004.
He added that under Section 17 (3), the Senate and the House of Representatives must pass an address supported by a two-thirds majority to advise the President on the removal of certain public officers.
Bamidele also highlighted the need for concurrence from the House of Representatives to ensure the resolution’s effectiveness.
“The Senate erroneously based its resolution on Section 157 (1), which does not apply to the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The correct provisions are Section 17 (3) of the Constitution and Section 22 (3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act 2004. We must correct this for the resolution to take legal effect,” the Majority Leader told his colleagues.
Following his observation, the Senate unanimously agreed to Bamidele’s motion to correct the error and adjust the resolution accordingly.