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JAMES IBORI TO FACE ANOTHER TRIAL IN NIGERIA AFTER TIME IN UK JAIL

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THE Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) has welcomed the 13 years jail sentence on a former governor
of Delta state, James Onanefe Ibori, by a Southwark Crown Court in London.

 
A statement
by the Commission’s spokesman, Wilson Uwajaren, also said that the repatriation
of the property and assets stolen by the convict was important. It said: “The
Commission expects Ibori to serve his term in the UK and return to Nigeria to face other criminal charges pending in courts,
arising from his eight year rule of Delta State. The EFCC wishes to restate the fact that the offences
for which Ibori was jailed in London is only a fraction of the array of criminal infractions
committed by the former governor.

“The Commission remains committed in its
determination to bring Ibori and other alleged corrupt politically exposed
persons and corporate titans to book in Nigeria, no matter how long it takes.” The Commission also
stated that the fact that Ibori could be convicted in London when the High Court in Asaba discharged him of the same
charges earlier filed by EFCC, showed that the Nigerian judicial system needed
to be strengthened if the war against corruption was to be won.

It added: “The EFCC receives with happiness, news
of the conviction of former governor of Delta State, Mr. James Ibori, who was this morning (yesterday)
sentenced to a 13 year jail term by a Southwark Crown Court in London. The Commission welcomes the conviction, which is the
icing on a tortuous investigative and legal odyssey for all actors involved in
the Ibori saga. “It is reassuring that today’s sentencing of Ibori was based on
the foundation of the case built by the EFCC in 2007, which unfortunately was
thrown out by the Federal High court, Asaba for lack of merit.

The same fate has lately befallen other EFCC cases,
notably the Erastus Akingbola, Ndudi Elumelu, Dimeji Bankole and Gbenga Daniel
matters. They were all thrown out by the courts purely on technical grounds
without consideration of the substantive issues. “The fact that a case which
supposedly lacked merit in Nigeria could fetch a 13-year jail term in the UK after a landmark guilt plea, brings to fore the need for
a reassessment of the nation’s justice delivery process.

We must strengthen our judicial institutions if we
are to make any headway in the anti-graft efforts. “More interesting to the
Commission in the Ibori conviction, is the opportunity for the repatriation of
the array of properties and assets amassed overseas by the convict. Once again,
his fate has proven that there is no safe haven abroad for politically exposed
persons who looted state funds entrusted in their care.”

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