Abuja Court Sacks CCB Chairman, Board Members

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday declared the tenure of the Chairman of Code of Conduct Bureau, Mr. Sam Saba, and nine other members of the bureau as expired.

Justice Binta Nyako, in her judgment, held that the 5-year tenure of the chairman and nine others had expired since April 2015. How came they were still in office?

She held that by virtue of section 155 (1) (c) and Paragraph 1, Part 1, Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Saba and others, all of whom were appointed in 2010, were only entitled to stay in office for five years.

The case was filed by Kingdom Human Rights Foundation International, through its director and lawyer, Mr. Okere Nnamdi.

President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), and the CCB, were the three respondents to the suit.

Although, Justice Nyako refused to grant prayers seeking an order compelling the President to remove and replace Saba, as well as the nine other members, the judge directed the AGF to advise the President on the tenure of members of the CCB board.

She specifically granted the prayer for “a declaration of the honourable court that the tenure of office of the Chairman and nine other members of the Code of Conduct Bureau has elapsed since April 2015; in view of section 155 (1)(c) and Paragraph 1, Part 1, Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”

But she only partially granted the two other main reliefs in which the plaintiff sought a declaration that the AGF had failed in his responsibility by not advising the President on the expiration of the tenure of the Chairman and members of the CCB.

In partially granting the two reliefs, the judge directed the AGF to give the President the needed advice on the issue.