On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, is not required to defend the Federal Government’s appeal seeking to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision that cleared him of false assets declaration.
In 2015, the Federal Government charged Orubebe for failing to disclose a property in Abuja, which he claimed to have sold in the asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Orubebe, who pleaded not guilty, argued that he didn’t declare the land in 2011 as he had already sold it to his landlord before his final asset declaration upon leaving office.
Despite the Code of Conduct Tribunal ordering the forfeiture of the property, the Court of Appeal later reversed this decision.
Dissatisfied with the appellate court’s ruling, the Federal Government appealed to the Supreme Court, but Justice Emmanuel Agim declared the appeal incompetent, citing the lack of prior court approval to file a mixed fact of law and subsequently struck it out.
