Former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Elder Godsday Peter Orubebe
has dismissed allegations of false declaration of assets and acceptance
of N70 million bribe.
The former minister is to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal
on November 9 on a four-count charge of receiving the bribe from a
contractor and failure to declare his ownership of two plots of land in
Abuja.
Orubebe, who spoke with reporters in Abuja yesterday afternoon, said
he personally collected the tribunal’s summons last Friday, asserting
that he had been wrongly blamed for the disappearance of N600 million
during his successor’s tenure.
He also accused some government departments of inviting him for questioning unnecessarily.
“This simply tells me it is an issue of witch-hunt and it is not good
for the development of this country,” he stated, urging President
Muhammadu Buhari to stop government agencies’ undue harassment of
perceived foes.
“If these things are coming out because of the role that I played at
the International Conference Centre as an agent of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), then it is unfortunate,” he said.
On allegation that he failed to declare ownership of two plots of
land, Orubebe stated that government gave him two plots of land which he
disposed of to take care of his needs as a minister.
He added that he could not declare continued ownership of a gift that he had disposed of.
On the N70 million bribe allegation, the former minister said there
was “unnecessary confusion” over the money and his alleged role. Orubebe said he asked President Goodluck Jonathan, the
Attorney-General of the Federation and the Bureau of Public Enterprises
(BPE) to revoke about seven shoddily-handled contracts for the
construction of skill acquisition centres, only for a pastor, who owned
one of such contracts to pay N20 million into the accounts of Glory
Christian Sanctuary, an evangelism centre built by the ex-minister in
his village.
I saw that there was N20 million deposit in the account of the
centre. I asked them who brought the money and they said it was my
private secretary, Akpokome, a civil servant.
“I asked him and he told me that it was the pastor that gave him the
money; I was so furious and I told him that the same way he collected
the money, he should return it to the man.’’
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