The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal made by the Federal Government against the overturning of the conviction of former Niger-Delta Minister, Godsday Orubebe, for allegedly violating the Code of Conduct for public officers.
The appeal, identified as SC/680/2017, was filed against the June 14, 2017 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which nullified Orubebe’s conviction on October 4, 2016 by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for breaching the Code of Conduct for public officers.
The government had accused Orubebe of not declaring a property at Plot 2057, Asokoro District, Abuja, in any of the forms he submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) while serving as a minister.
Orubebe denied the allegation, stating that he had sold the property before becoming a minister and therefore saw no need to declare it.
On Friday, February 16, 2024, a five-member panel of the highest court made a judgment stating that the appeal against Orubebe was not valid.
The lead judgment, written by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba but read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, found that the federal government did not seek permission from the court before filing the appeal.
Because the necessary permission was not obtained, the court deemed the appeal to be invalid and subsequently dismissed it.
