THE Supreme Court has denied the Federal Government’s appeal against the reversal of former Niger-Delta Minister Godsday Orubebe’s conviction on charges of violating the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
In a decision, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court determined that the Federal Government’s appeal was incompetent.
In the main judgement, led by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba but read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the court determined that the appellant failed to get the court’s prior leave before submitting the appeal, which was based on mixed law and facts.
The court held that because previous leave of court was not secured as needed, the appeal was defective and dismissed it.
The Federal Government filed an appeal against the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which overturned Orubebe’s conviction by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on October 4, 2016, for violating the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
The Federal Government accused him in a single count of failing to register a property at Plot 2057, Asokoro District, Abuja, on any of the asset declaration forms he filed to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) while serving as a minister.
Orubebe refuted the allegations, arguing that he sold the property before becoming a minister and hence had no obligation to register it.
