Code of Conduct Tribunal, (CCT) Seizes Orubebe’s Properties

The Code of Conduct Tribunal, (CCT) yesterday ordered former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Or­ubebe, to give up a landed property situated at Plot 2057, Asokoro district to the Federal Government.

The tribunal while delivering its judgment on charges of nondeclaration of assets, held that Orube was guilty of false declara­tion of asset.

The CCT Chairman, Danladi Umar who pre­sided over a two-man panel ordered the seizure and forfeiture of the property belonging to Orubebe.

With the judgement, the Federal Government is to take over the land from the former minister.

The Federal Govern­ment had sued Orubebe on a one count charge of nondeclaration of landed prop­erty situated at Plot 2057, Asokoro District.

Orubebe had through his lawyer, told the tribu­nal that the land no longer belonged to him as he had transferred it to one Barr Akinwumi Ajibola in lieu of his (Orubebe) two years house rent at Mabushi area of the Federal Capital Terri­tory (FCT) where he stayed as a minister.

Orubebe had further told the tribunal that all the documents as it concerned the land had been trans­ferred to Ajibola, including the Power of Attorney.

But Umar in the verdict held that having looked at the submissions of both parties, it was observed that six years after the transfer had been made, the docu­ments of the land were yet to be registered in lands registry.

He further held that the prosecution had estab­lished his case beyond rea­sonable doubt adding that the defendant was under obligation to register the land in the land registry in Abuja.

According to him, “Fail­ure to register the docu­ment at the land registry render the transfer null. In the circumstance, the de­fendant is still the owner of the said plot 2057, Asokoro District, and not Barr Akin­wumi Ajibola who testified as the Defense Witness I.

“Based on the provision of Section 23 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, plot 2057, Asokoro District belonging to the defendant is hereby confiscated and forfeited to the Federal Government.”