The Federal Government’s appeal against the reversal of former Niger-Delta Minister, Godsday Orubebe’s conviction on allegations of breaching the Code of Conduct for Public Officers has been dismissed by the Supreme Court.
The five-member panel held that the appeal was incompetent since the appellant failed to obtain prior leave of the court before filing the appeal, which was based on mixed law and facts.
The Fed Govt’s appeal was against the June 14, 2017, judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which set aside Orubebe’s conviction on October 4, 2016, by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for breaching the Code of Conduct for public officers.
The Fed Govt had accused Orubebe of failing to declare a property at Plot 2057, Asokoro District, Abuja, in any of the asset declaration forms he submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) while serving as a minister.
Orubebe denied the allegation, claiming to have sold the property before becoming a minister and therefore found no need to declare it.
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In a judgment on 4 October 2016, the CCT convicted Orubeber, holding that he contravened the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
The tribunal, led by Mr Danladi Umar, found him guilty of failing to declare the said property.
The CCT ordered that the said property be forfeited to the Federal Government, a decision Orubebe challenged at the Court of Appeal.
Orubebe appealed the decision at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
In its judgment on June 14, 2017, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal held among others, that the CCT erred in its decision to conviction of Orubebe.
In the lead judgment, Justice Abdul Aboki noted that the case before the tribunal was not about the declaration of title, but a false declaration of assets.
