The
Federal Government on Thursday opened its case against a former
Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe, who is being
prosecuted before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja on one count of
false asset declaration.
The first prosecution witness, Samuel
Madojemu, an official of the Code of Conduct Bureau who testified on
Thursday, accused Orubebe of failing to declare his property at Plot
2057, Asokoro District, Abuja, as a minister between 2007 and 2011.
Madojemu, who coordinates CCB’s
“intelligence on observed breaches of the code and asset tracing
investigation,” said Orubebe submitted five asset declaration forms to
the bureau between 2007 and 2011, the period he served as a minister.
Orubebe submitted the five forms to the
CCB, first, as Minister of Special Duties under the administration of
the late President Umar Yar’Adua, and later, as Minister of Niger Delta
Affairs up till 2011 under the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration.
The witness said the Certificate of
Occupancy for the property obtained from the land registry of the
Federal Capital Territory administration showed that it was issued to
Orubebe on April 10, 2011 but that the former minister failed to declare
it as of the time he was leaving office on May 29, 2011.
The witness, who was led in evidence by
the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed
Diri, said Orubebe refused to honour invitation by the bureau during the
investigation of an intelligence report obtained concerning him.
Madojemu said, “The defendant declared
his assets to the bureau by virtue of his position as a public officer
and as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“I was instructed to invite him to the
bureau for the purpose of obtaining his statement on the allegations and
intelligence report that was being handled by the bureau concerning
him.
“I invited him. He promised to respond
by sending his legal team. He also promised that he might decide to come
in person but he did not come.
“My lord, the bureau issued him with
Form CCB 1 which is the bureau’s asset declaration form and he made his
declaration between 2007 and 2011 – the period under investigation.
“The Code of Conduct Bureau issued the
defendant the Form CCB 1 five times. For those five times, he made his
asset declaration to the bureau.
“My lord, after we received the form, we
examined the form as part of our procedures of investigation to
ascertain if there was over-declaration or under-declaration.
“We conducted intelligence assessment on
the declaration made by the defendant. We discovered that there were
some other plots or properties that were traced to the defendant,
Godsday Orubebe.
“We conducted record examination by writing a letter to the Federal Capital Territory’s Department of Land Administration.
“My lord, in their response, which was
in writing, it was indicated that Plot 2057, Asokoro District, for which
the Certificate of Occupancy was issued on April 10, 2011, belonged to
the defendant.
“We thereafter compared the information
arising from the response from the FCT Land Administration Department
with the information on asset declaration forms submitted to the bureau
between 2007 and 2011 and discovered that Plot 2057, Asokoro District,
belonging to the defendant was not declared, even as of May 29, 2011
when he left office.
“Apart from the letter from the FCT Land
Administration registry, we also received the Certified True Copy of
the Certificate of Occupancy in respect of Plot number 2057 issued to
the defendant.
“We also received the CTC of the Right of Occupancy for that same Plot No. 2057 issued to the defendant.
“Also received from the FCT Land
Administration registry was a letter of authority given to one Rodney,
an engineer, by the defendant, authorising him to collect the
Certificate of Occupancy and the Right of Occupancy from the FCT Land
registry. It was supported by the (passport) page of the defendant.”
Madojemu said the reason for inviting
Orubebe was to ask him why he failed to declare the asset which he
acquired about one month to the expiration of his tenure.
The two-man panel of the Code of Conduct
Tribunal admitted as exhibits the certified true copies of all the five
CCB 1 forms submitted to the bureau by Orubebe.
Orubebe’s lawyer, Mr. Selekowei Larry (SAN), did not oppose the admissibility of the documents.
But the lawyer opposed the admissibility
of the Certificate of Occupancy, the Right of Occupancy, the letter of
authority referred to by the witness, which were all attached to a
letter dated February 18, 2016, by the Land registry of the FCT, in
response to the request by the CCB.
Larry contended that the letter along
with the documents attached to it was inadmissible under Section 83(3)
of the Evidence Act, because it was authored by “a person interested”
while the case against his client was already pending in court.
The letter dated February 18, 2016 was
authored by an Assistant State Counsel in the Lands Administration
Department, Mrs. Funke Audu, of the Federal Capital Territory.
“These are documents procured during the
pendency of this case. The letter is dated February 18, 2016, whereas
the suit commenced on October 18, 2015,” Larry said.
But the tribunal chairman, in a ruling,
overruled Larry and upheld the argument by the lead prosecutor, Diri,
who argued that Audu, who was an employee of the Federal Capital
Territory Administration, could never be an interested party.
The documents were admitted as exhibits.
Orubebe, who was dressed in a white native attire and a black hat, sat in the dock throughout the proceedings.
He was accompanied to court by a group of women and other supporters.
The trial was adjourned till April 14 for cross-examination of the witness.
Source – Punchng.com
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