The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the Federal Government’s appeal to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision which cleared former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, of false asset declaration.
According to The PUNCH, in a judgment on Friday, a five-member panel of the apex court held that the appeal by the Fed Govt was incompetent.
In the lead judgment prepared by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, but read on Friday by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the court found that the appellant failed to obtain the prior leave of the court before filing the appeal, which was based on grounds of mixed law and facts.
The court held that since the prior leave of court was not obtained as required, the appeal was incompetent and proceeded to dismiss it.
In 2015, Orubebe was arraigned for not disclosing his properties in the asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau during his tenure as a minister from 2007 to 2011.
The offence was said to be contrary to Section 15 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act Cap 15 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and punishable under Section 23(2) of the same Act.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him.
Orubebe said he did not declare the plot of land as his asset in 2011 because he had sold it to his landlord before he made the last asset declaration while leaving office.
But the Code of Conduct Tribunal ordered that the property which the former minister failed to declare be forfeited to the Federal Government.
