Supreme Court has dismissed the Federal Government’s appeal against the acquittal of former Niger-Delta Minister, Godsday Orubebe, over an alleged breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a judgment delivered by a five-member panel, the apex court deemed the appeal incompetent.
Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, in the lead judgment read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, stated that the appellant failed to secure prior leave from 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.
The Federal Government’s appeal challenged the Court of Appeal, Abuja’s decision to overturn Orubebe’s conviction on October 4, 2016, by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for breaching the Code of Conduct for public officers.
Orubebe had been accused, in a single-count charge, of failing to declare a property at Plot 2057, Asokoro District, Abuja, in any of the asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) during his tenure as a minister.
Denying the allegation, Orubebe claimed to have sold the property before assuming office as a minister, arguing that there was no obligation to declare it.
