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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
"Fraud (passing bad checks, documents, casino, bankrupcy, etc.)" |
Sentence: |
Forfeiture of property |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2007 |
Year Convicted: |
2016 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Nigeria |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
Abuja |
Result: |
Not Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Elder Godsday Orubebe was wrongly convicted on October 4, 2016 of false declaration of assets for failing to disclose in 2007 his ownership of a plot of land in Abuja, Nigeria when he declared his assets on September 26, 2007. He was also convicted of failing to disclose ownership of the land in his asset declaration on June 29, 2011. Orubebe's defense was that he didn't own the land in 2007, and he didn't own the land at the time of his asset declaration in 2011, so he couldn't have declared it as an asset. The asset declaration requirements and charges were a result of Elder Orubebe obligations as Nigeria's Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. After he was found guilty by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Orubebe was sentenced to forfeit personal property, however, he wasn't barred from holding public office. Orubebe appealed. On June 14, 2017 Nigeria's Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja set-aside Orubebe's conviction as a miscarriage of justice and ordered his acquittal based on the prosecution's failure to provide evidence proving his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court noted that the plot of empty land at issue was gifted to Orubebe on June 13, 2011, and he parted with it the same day -- consequently he couldn't have declared it as an asset he possessed in 2007. The Court also noted that in his June 28, 2011 asset declaration (not June 29 as contended by the prosecution) he did not list the land because he no longer owned it. On June 22, 2017 the Federal Government filed an appeal at Nigeria's Supreme Court to reverse the Court of Appeals Ruling." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On June 14, 2017 Nigeria's Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja set-aside Orubebe's conviction as a miscarriage of justice and ordered his acquittal based on the prosecution's failure to provide evidence proving his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court noted that the plot of empty land at issue was gifted to Orubebe on June 13, 2011, and he parted with it the same day -- consequently he couldn't have declared it as an asset he possessed in 2007. The Court also noted that in his June 28, 2011 asset declaration he did not list the land because he no longer owned it." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Breaking: A-Court voids Orubebe’s conviction, overrules CCT, By Ikechukwu Nnochiri, Vanguard (Abuja, Nigeria), June 14, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/06/breaking-court-voids-orubebes-conviction-overrules-cct/ |
Information Source 2: |
"FG appeals against Orubebe at Supreme Court, By Adelanwa Bamgboye, Daily Trust, June 23 2017" |
Information Location 2: |
https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/fg-appeals-against-orubebe-at-supreme-court/202844.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org