Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
Seventeen registered opposition political parties on Wednesday demanded the immediate resignation of the presiding judge of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Danladi Umar, for his alleged compromise and bias in the ongoing trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
The political parties also faulted the recent clearance of justice Umar from alleged corruption charges, saying, “the only way President Buhari could prove that his government is indeed more serious about fighting corruption is to direct an immediate investigation into the circumstances that led to the EFCC issuing this so-called letter of clearance to Mr. Danladi.”
Similarly, a rights group under the aegis of Coalition of Civil Society and Pressure Groups, have decried the occupation of the National Assembly by a group known as #OccupyNASS, alleging political motive behind the protest.
However while addressing newsmen yesterday in Abuja, the national chairman of Labour Party, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, who spoke on behalf of the parties, alleged that it has become clearer that Justice Danladi Umar, has become an interested party in the case, hence, he should step down from the Saraki trial.
Some of the political parties represented at the conference include; Labour Party, LP, PPN, AA, MPPP, NCP, DPP and ADC among others.
“We believe his continued stay on the bench while this defendant is appearing before the Tribunal supports the conspiracy theory that there is an agenda to convict Dr. Saraki by all means. President Buhari needs to act now, not to stop Saraki’s trial but to ensure that the process of fighting corruption does not end up being even more corrupt than the corruption it seeks to eliminate.”
