By Ibraheem Al-hassan.
It is heartwarming that the Code of Conduct Tribunal is being repositioned to swiftly dispense justice in a more robust and efficient manner. Shortly after his appointment, as the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal in 2011, Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar came up with a number of reforms to step up the performance of the Tribunal.
The appointment of Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar appeared to be historic, because he is the only Chairman of the Tribunal to be so appointed who is within the age bracket of 40; this will no doubt inspire vigour and energy of youth to bear the weight of dispensing justice.
The Tribunal was established pursuant to the Code of Conduct Bureau Act (Cap C15) Laws of Federation of Nigeria, 2004. The provisions of the Act are contained in part 1 of the 5th schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, with the primary objective of adjudicating and ensuring highest standard of public morality, transparency and accountability among public servants in the conduct of government business.
The Tribunal has the power to impose punishments ranging from directing vacation of office and disqualification from holding any public office of elected or appointed nature on officers found guilty of contravening any of the provisions of the Act, especially those bothering on misconduct and corrupt practices. It also has the power of seizure and forfeiture to the state, of any property acquired in abuse or corruption of office.
At the moment, the Tribunal has some other members which include Retired Justice Robert I.E. Odu and Barrister Atedze W. Aguadza.
Since the establishment and setting out of the jurisdiction of the Tribunal as well as the appointment of the Chairman and Judges of the tribunal were set out in the f5th schedule of the Constitution, the legal status of the Tribunal has been challenged several times.
It was on this premise, that for the first time, the present Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar made a passionate appeal to the Presidency for the change of the Tribunal's status from being an organ within the Presidency to being under Judiciary arrangement, as they perform the same functions. Equally, the procedure for the appointment of Judges is the same of Judges of other courts, i.e. recommendation from Federal Judicial Service Commission to National Judicial Commission and finally, they are sworn in by the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar said, this will protect the independence of the Tribunal in carrying out its adjudicatory duties and will expunge the feelings that the executive arm may want to use the Tribunal against its political opponents. This effort is beginning to yield positive result. Already, the matter has passed through 1st reading on the floor of the Senate on Thursday, 7th February, 2013 as brought to it by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Senator Umar Dahiru, from Sokoto state. (http://fmi.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/federal-secretariate2.jpg) (http://fmi.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/federal-secretariate2.jpg)
However, the Chairman of the Tribunal, after his swearing–in by the then Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu at the Supreme Court, averred that some of the cases being handled by EFCC and ICPC ought to have been brought to the CCT for quick determination.
On staff welfare, the Tribunal under the current Chairman ensures that staff performance is optimally harnessed to ensure service delivery. He restructured the manpower of the Tribunal by ensuring right placement of officers to fit their professional schedule to guarantee their output. He, as well ensures that a periodic capacity building of officers is pursued through seminars, trainings and workshops at home and abroad.
The Tribunal has been constrained in carrying out its tasks, given its limited funding. Since the assumption of office of Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar, the Tribunal has been operating under paucity of fund, especially after relocating to its permanent complex along Jabi District.
Coupled with sitting arrangement, the Tribunal often moves its entire courtroom to States in order to bring judicial service to the door steps of the people, considering the fact that the category of those brought before the tribunal, are public servants with relatively lower income, as they cannot bear the cost of traveling to its headquarter in Abuja.
There is the compelling need for the government to dispassionately look at the demands made by the Tribunal Chairman, in order to key the Code of Conduct Tribunal into the current reform that the Judiciary landscape is witnessing, anchored on the transformation agenda of Mr. President.
Ibraheem Al-hassan, the Head of Press and Public Relations, Code of Conduct Tribunal sent this piece in from Jabi, Headquarters of the Tribunal.
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