Godsday Orubebe, former minister of Niger Delta affairs, has described his summon by the code of conduct (CCT) as a “witch hunt”.

Orubebe will be arraigned on November 9 on a four-count charge of alleged bribery and false assets declaration.

But speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, the former minister said the charges were “frivolous”, wondering why the issue was taken to the media before commencement of the trial.

“I was served with code of conduct tribunal summons on Friday and I collected and personally signed the paper,” he said.

“I was expected to appear on November 9 but I got taken aback by the news that I had already been arraigned.

“This tells me that it is an issue of witch-hunt which is not good for this country. It is not good to take me to the public court before being tried.

“The issues contained in the summons are empty and frivolous; that I took N50 million bribe from one of the contractors who handled a project for the ministry of Niger Delta and another N20 million from the same contractor, as well as not declaring my plots of land in Asokoro and Kyame districts of Abuja.”

Orubebe served as a polling agent for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the presidential election. His attempts at disrupting the proceedings of the result collation remain fresh in the memories of Nigerians.

He had accused Attahiru Jega, then chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), of working against his party.