News Express
Former lawmaker-turned-activist,
Otunba Dino Melaye, has taken his anti-graft campaign abroad with a new
programme under which his group, the Anti-Corruption Network, splashes the
photos and stories of allegedly corrupt Nigerian public officials in the
international media.
Minister of the Niger Delta, Elder Godsday Orubebe,
has become the first to be thus disgraced. For days, News Express has
sighted Orubebe’s photograph and that of some of his allegedly illegally
acquired houses boldly displayed on the website of the British newspaper Daily
Telegraph. The photos and the bold caption “Anti-Corruption Network
Exposes Five Choice Properties Owned By Minister Godsday Orubebe” are
prominently displayed on the home page of Daily Telegraph.
On clicking the headline or photograph, a reader is
taken to a SaharaReporters story dated 21 December 2012 that gives details of
the alleged scam by Orubebe. The story reads thus:
“An anti-corruption group led by former House of
Representatives member, Dino Melaye, has revealed five properties purchased by
the Minister of the Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe.
“The choice properties were acquired in the last
three years that Mr. Orubebe has been a minister, first under the late
President Umaru Yar’Adua and later as one of the most powerful figures in the
cabinet of President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Mr. Melaye’s group revealed that a construction
company, SETRACO, built and delivered a brand new mansion to Mr. Orubebe less
than six months after the company received a contract to build part of the
East-West highway in the Niger Delta region.
“Mr. Melaye’s group obtained documents indicating
that Mr. Orubebe was the owner of the properties they identified. One of the
documents is the certificate of occupancy for Plot 2722, Kyami District in
Abuja. The plot contains 1883.63 square meters. Another certificate of
occupancy obtained by the group shows that Mr. Orubebe owns Plot 2460 in the
notoriously expensive Maitama area of Abuja. In addition, the minister, who is
reputed as one of the most corrupt associates of President Jonathan, also owns
Plot 1736 in the Guzape area of Abuja. The certificate of occupancy for the
plot was issued in 2008. The Minister for the Niger Delta also acquired Plot
2057 in the Asokoro area.
“A source at the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission told SaharaReporters that he was not aware that the anti-corruption
agency had opened any investigation into Mr. Orubebe’s land deals or other
financial activities. ‘As far as I know, the EFCC is not investigating Elder Orubebe,’
said the source, adding that the agency was unlikely to act ‘unless the
Presidency specifically orders us to go after him.’
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