Two Influential Northerners Fight Dirty Over CCT Chairmanship—-Investigations reveal that both Umar and Kogo have officially visited the tribunal and engaged with staff, leaving no clear directive on who is in charge.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Kogo as the new CCT chairman on July 13, the same day Omolola Oloworaran was announced as the Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

However, the controversy surrounding Umar’s removal has caused a noticeable slowdown in tribunal activities.

Despite this, corruption cases involving public servants are still ongoing, with several charges listed for trial or arraignment.

Senior staff members of the tribunal, speaking anonymously, admitted to being uncertain about who to follow. Both men have addressed them, and as civil servants, they are simply awaiting clear instructions.

“We are civil servants and we believe we can work with anyone that comes,” a staff member told Daily Trust.

“We have not seen any letter to the effect of these changes. We believe there is a procedure for the removal and appointment of a new chairman of the CCT.

“We know that the president and the two arms of government have made pronouncements but we don’t know if invisible hands are working on these, but we know there is a process,” he added.

A senior official explained the formal process: any appointee must go through screening by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), receive recommendations from the National Judicial Council (NJC), and then obtain presidential approval before Senate confirmation.

The lack of clarity has reportedly left a backlog of files unattended.

“He came today and left and the entire judiciary is now on holiday so we have taken the liberty to adjourn all the outstanding cases to January,” another official said.

Meanwhile, a former tribunal staff member criticized Umar’s continued visits to the office.