DUBAI’S highest court has ruled that former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori, can be extradited to the UK to face corruption charges.
He is accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of stealing more than $290 million (£196m) of state funds while in office in the oil-rich state.
British investigators say he channelled much of the money into banks in the UK.
Chief Ibori, who has denied the charges, was detained in May after the intervention of the global police agency Interpol.

A month before he arrived in the Gulf emirate, a group of his supporters attacked police and prevented them from arresting him in his home town.
The Dubai Court of Cassation ruled that there were no grounds to block the extradition.
In 2007, a London court froze UK assets worth $35 million allegedly belonging to him. His annual salary was less than $25,000.
He had already left the UK when his assets were seized.
Chief Ibori, who is a senior figure in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was first arrested in Nigeria in December 2007.
Two years later, a court in Asaba cleared him of  170-count charge of corruption, saying there was no clear evidence to convict, sparking the anger of the EFCC.
Meanwhile, the EFCC, on Monday, applauded the ruling of  the Arab Emirates Court of Cassation to extradite Chief Ibori.
The ruling followed a similar decision by the Court of First Instance in Dubai, which ordered Ibori’s extradition to the UK last October.
The commission’s spokesperson, Mr Femi Babafemi, told the Nigerian Tribune: “The ruling today by the appellate court in Dubai only goes to confirm our earlier position issued after the first ruling in October, that justice is universal and applicable anywhere in the world.
“We have been cooperating with authorities in other jurisdictions on this and we will continue to do this until the course of justice is fully served, irrespective of the ignorance and misrepresentation being peddled by mischief makers.”
UK authorities had earlier prosecuted Ibori’s sister, Christine Ibie-Ibori, his alleged mistress, Udoamaka Okoronkwo (nee Onuigbo) on those charges. Both women are serving jail terms in a UK prison.
Also, Ibori’s wife, Theresa Nkoyo, and his UK-based counsel, Bhadresh, were also convicted.
The UK officials have said they are expecting Ibori to be flown to the UK to face his trial.

She was however discharged on on counts 3 and 4.

The jury entered a verdict at about 15.56 pm GMT and she has been remanded in custody and transported to Holloway prison in north London.

Opposition to the reelection of former governor of Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan, has resurfaced hours after he lost his position via a Court of Appeal judgment which nullified his 2007 election victory and ordered a re-run of the election within 90 days.

A faction of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, led by former federal commissioner for information in the First Republic, Edwin Clark, yesterday rejected Mr. Uduaghan’s candidacy and called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately investigate and prosecute him.

Mr. Clark, speaking on Wednesday in Abuja, at a meeting with Delta State elders, leaders, and stakeholders, said the Appeal Court has vindicated his claim that there was no election in the state in 2007, and called on anti-corruption agencies to immediately arrest the ex-governor.

“Election into the governorship seat was never held in Delta State. Uduaghan was never our governor, and PDP cannot win the re-run election with him. We have rejected him and we will continue to reject him. We are all in the Peoples Democratic Party, but it was not a PDP government that was removed, because majority of the PDP members opposed Uduaghan.

“We believe that with the Appeal Court judgment, God has come to judgment because God listens to His people. We don’t know how much Ibori left in Delta State,” Mr. Clark said.

Allegation of fraud

Specifically, he alleged that Mr. Uduaghan was involved in the looting of Delta State’s treasury during the Ibori administration. He also accused the former governor of mismanaging the resources of the state.

“For the past three years, the state had received over N500bn, but despite this amount, nothing had happened. The PDP had rejected Uduaghan because the evil committed by him and Ibori can only be removed by another person who does not believe in their dynasty. What Ibori started has been taken over by Uduaghan and our resources are draining. So this is the time for the people of Delta State to be saved,” he said.

The Ijaw leader also said the party executive in the state, led by Peter Nwaoboshi, was an illegal body, and called on the president to dissolve it.

It accused the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) of colluding to destabilise the party in the state, saying the PDP cannot win any election with Mr. Uduaghan as a candidate.

The  Speaker was sworn by the State Chief Judge this afternoon.

Meanwhile Nigeria’s ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has expressed consternation at the annulment more so coming at at time the country is preparing for the forthcoming 2011 elections. In a statement the publiciity secretary of the party, My Rufai Alkali stated that the sacked governor, Emmanuel Uduagham remains the State’s gubernitorial candidate in the forthcoming re-run of the state governorship elections.

The annulment was the result of the appeal brought by the governorship candidate of Democratic People’s Party (DPP) in Delta State in the 2007 elections, Great Ogboru against the election of Mr Uduaghan, who has governed the state since 2007. 

On October 19, 2009, the five-man Elections Tribunal sitting in Asaba had dismissed the petition filed by Mr. Ogboru challenging the election, in an unanimous decision. The tribunal held that the petitioner failed to prove that there was no election in most of the voting centres, as alleged in his petition and that he also failed to prove a case of gross rigging.

Uduaghan was removed from office yesterday via a ruling of the Elections Petitions Court of Appeal in Benin which nullified his flawed April 2007 election as governor.

Uduaghan, who is a cousin of Ibori, was the secretary to the Delta state government during the intervening period.  His name has featured prominently in the ongoing trial of Ibori’s estranged wife, Theresa Nkoyo at the Southwark Crown Court in London.

Prof. Utuama’s name has also featured prominently in the money laundering activities of Ibori.  During his tenure as Ibori’s Attorney General, Utuama’s Prime Chambers account at Zenith Bank in Nigeria was generously used to transfer funds that helped spread bribes to a variety of lawyers and judges.



Though Mr. Uduaghan and Utuama have been involved in cases of corruption involving the Iboris, they enjoyed legal immunity from persecution on account of their positions as governor and deputy governor.

They took advantage of those positions to help Ibori to seize and manage his own trial as he pleased. 

Together, they set up a kangaroo Federal High Court in Asaba which was paid for, staffed and kitted by the Delta State government.  It was no surprise when that court, last year, threw out 170 counts of money laundering charges against Ibori. The EFCC appealed the case and mounted fresh legal challenges against Ibori and his cronies. 

But the Delta State government funded militants to prevent the arrest of Ibori by the EFCC and the police until Ibori was safely ferreted out of Nigeria to Dubai where he was eventually arrested by the London Metropolitan police with the aid of Interpol and the Dubai police.

Ibori now faces extradition to the UK to face trial for money laundering. He has so far stalled his extradition by launching an appeal against a high court ruling which granted his extradition to London.

If the EFCC successfully begins the prosecution of Uduaghan and Utuama, the duo will have a hard time rejoining the gubernatorial race that will be taking place in the next 90 days, as ordered by the court yesterday.

It would also mean that Ibori will face serious financial hurdles in resisting his extradition to London, in view of the fact that Uduaghan and Utuama have consistently used Delta State funds to support Ibori’s extravagant lifestyle as well as his legal bills in Dubai.

Great Ovedje Ogboru, who was the governorship candidate of Democratic Peoples Party, had also challenged the election of Uduaghan on the grounds of irregularities. But the tribunal sitting in Asaba refused his petition.

 The DPP candidate had filed an appeal against the judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Delta state.

 He had called for forensic experts from London to ascertain his claims of gross irregularities that had marred the April, 2007 gubernatorial election in Delta state.

 Mr. Peter Okocha, the governorship candidate of the Action Congress in the April 14, 2007 poll in state had also challenged the declaration of Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party by the Independent Electoral Commission at the tribunal.

 He had claimed that he was excluded from the election and prayed the tribunal to nullify the poll and compel INEC to conduct a fresh election.

 By Simon Ochuko

For all intents and purposes, and according to the ex-governor of Delta State, it would appear that there are two distinct individuals who share a common name in “James Onanefe Ibori”. It would seem that the ex-governor, the “real” James Onanefe Ibori (“the Odidigborigbo of Africa”) who is but an upright and decent citizen of Nigeria, has an alter ego or a “evil twin” who is nothing but a wayward common thief who goes around stealing building materials in both London and Abuja and has a penchant for fraudulent use of stolen credit cards.

Indeed, recent revelations emanating from the ongoing trial of the “real” Ibori’s wife, Mrs Thersa Nkoyo Ibori, has thrown another dimension to this mystery of the two James Iboris. As it stands today, one James Onanefe Ibori was born on 4th August 1958 and the other James Onanefe Ibori was born on 4th August 1962! That is on exactly the same day of the same month but four years apart! An amazing coincidence!alt

With the repeated assertion by the EFCC and the subsequent detailed disclosure of London’s Metropolitan Police that ex-Governor James Ibori was twice convicted in London firstly together with his wife Nkoyo Theresa Ibori nee Nakanda in January 1991 for theft of home/building materials from a hardware store (Wickes) and on a later occasion in February 1992 for fraudulent use of a stolen American Express credit card, we have been consistently served a dish with a familiar aroma, as Ibori puts it: “

It was this same “identity” dish that the ex-Governor served that Nigeria’s judicial system lapped up with relish and which resulted in him retaining his seat as Governor of Delta State in 2003 despite overwhelming evidence linking him to a 1995 case involving theft of building materials from the Usman Dam building project and a conviction for Criminal Breach of Trust and Negligent Conduct. As we know, the ex-Governor went on to famously sponsor the presidential and Delta State pogrom of April 2007 using the coffers of his state as the “petty cash” pot for his grand scheming.

In Kaduna 2007, when he repeated the “mistaken identity” claim, it was his liberty that was at stake and Justice Mohammed Lawal Shuaibu of the Federal High Court subsequently granted him bail. Ibori then went on to accuse the same Justice Shuaibu of bias and (with assistance from higher powers) successfully had the trial transferred from Kaduna to his “fiefdom” and “stomping ground” where he controls immense of power and influence, Asaba, the Delta State capital. Incredibly, the Asaba High Court court did not exist at the time!

Nonetheless, in response to James Ibori’s demand for a fair trial, a division of the the Federal High Court was established in Asaba and duly staffed in record time. The State Government headed by his cousin Emmanuel Uduaghan obliged and facilitated the speedy setup by donating the land and building structures to the Federal authority.

What happened subsequently under the endless and inexplicable adjournments of Mr Justice Marcel Awokulehin who presided over the eventual dismissal (without any trial) of the 170 charges against Mr Ibori is testament to the proposition that only the truly “guilty” are ever convicted in Nigeria. This is more so given the way well known and famous cases in Nigeria against Ibori have gone in the past!

To fully explore this point, it will be useful to review the ex-convict case against Ibori as was brought against him whilst he was the incumbent (if not illegitimate) Governor of Delta State in 2003. This will also help to determine whether or not the ex-governor does indeed have “form” and will assist in judging how far the endemic corruption in the wider Nigerian space has eaten into the justice delivery service in Nigeria.

For the purposes of this, we will embark on a review of the last real and indepth fact-finding proceedings as ensued at The Governorship Election Tribunal in Asaba following the 2003 general (s)elections. The case was brought by the AD gubernatorial candidate in that election Great Ogboru.

The Case

After much prevarication and illogical decisions by the first Tribunal (empanelled in 2003) which were consistently overturned by the Court of Appeal, a new panel was instituted in late 2005 to replace the obviously compromised panel. The new panel eventually gave its final controversial 3:2 split decision ruling on 12th April 2006. The case was heard by five judges viz.

    * Justice Adzira G. Mshelia (Chairman),
    * Justice Josephine Tuktur (Member),
    * Justice Ibrahim M. M. Saulawa (Member),
    * Justice Muktar L. Abimbola (Member), and
    * Justice Haruna M. Tsammani (Member).

The controversial 3:2 split decision went in favour of Ibori. The majority judgement comprising Justices Msheila, Tuktur, and Tsammani ruled that they were NOT convinced by the evidence that the then Governor was the ex-convict as claimed by Ogboru, and the separate minority judgements of both Justices Saulawa and Abimbola emphatically ruled that the then Governor was one and the same James Onanefe Ibori that was duly convicted in 1995.

The Background

In an early but separate incarnation of this case (Agbi vs Ogbeh 2003) an Abuja High Court Judge by the name of Justice H. Mukhtar ruled that the Certified True Copy of the 1995 case merely showed that there was a “sentencing” of the said James Ibori but no “conviction” and therefore ruled in favour of ex-Governor Ibori!

Eventually this absurdity was put to bed on appeal, and the conviction and sentencing of a person named James Onanefe Ibori of Delta State on 28th September 1995 for the offence of Criminal Breach of Trust and Negligent Conduct was firmly established in fact and confirmed by law by virtue of the judgement of the Supreme Court in Agbi vs Ogbeh 2003. In that same ruling, the Supreme Court directed that the case be started afresh from the High Court to determine the single issue of the true identity of the ex-convict as the then governor of Delta State flatly denied that it was him i.e. “mistaken identity”!

Following the fresh trial, the Supreme Court confirmed both the High Court and Court of Appeal’s ruling that Agbi and Goodnews did not “sufficiently identify” the then Governor as the ex-convict and so it ended. However, in a separate parallel process to the Agbi case, Great Ogboru brought a case to the Delta State Election Tribunal on this same issue.

The Issue

Great Ogboru argued that by virtue of the Provisions of S.182(1)(e) of the Nigeria’s 1999 constitution, Ibori was not qualified to contest the 2003 Delta State gubernatorial elections on the grounds of his (Ibori’s) conviction and sentence for the offence of Criminal Breach of Trust and Negligent Conduct on 28th September 1995 by a competent court in Bwari, FCT Abuja.

The Dispute

The main issue of dispute was whether or not James Onanefe Ibori, the then Governor of Delta State, was one and the same person that was convicted in 1995. Great Ogboru asserted that the two persons were one and the same. Ibori flatly denied being the person concerned in the said conviction.

The Evidence

The material and key evidence adduced at the Tribunal was deposed by sworn testimony with the aid of documentary evidence which were variously admitted as exhibits. Key witnesses were also cross-examined. We will review the individual testimony from both Ibori and Ogboru. Extensive quotes from the witnesses as recorded in the Tribunal’s record will be referenced in italicised quotation marks.

 Ogboru’s Witnesses

Sgt Mambo Odumu

The first witness, Sgt Mambo Odumu, was an Investigating Police Officer (IPO) attached to the Bwari Divisional Police Headquarters at the material time in question in 1995. As at April 2006 he was still with the Divisional Headquarters.

Sgt Odumu testified that he first knew Ibori as “Oga James” as, according to him, Ibori was then popularly known because he was “good to everyone”, “generous” and showed “appreciation” to “policemen on duty” and took time out to “discuss” i.e chat with the police officers. He later got to know his full names as James Onanefe Ibori and that he worked as a contractor involved in the Lower Usman Dam building project. His familiarity was borne by the fact he frequently met Ibori in the course of his (day or night time) patrolling duties with other police officers to their outpost attached to the Dam building project.

His words:

“Sometimes in the month of September 1995, I got to know the 1st respondent [Ibori]. By that time he was popularly known as Oga James as we got closer I know him as James Onanefe Ibori that was at lower Usman Dam at Abuja FCT where building construction was going on. James Onanefe lbori was a contractor at that time and we police men from Bwari police division we usually patrol to the lower Usman Dam and to also visit our police personnel at the lower Usman Dam. Since then [i.e. 1995] at any time we went for patrol we see him [ibori] we called him Oga James simply because he was so generous to every body, he was so good to every body. We used to talk to one another any time we went to lower Usman Dam or he comes to town.”

He further detailed his knowledge of, and familiarity with Ibori by describing personal and physical attributes of Ibori thus:

“James Onanefe Ibori is a man of about 6 feet tall, dark in complexion and whenever he opens his mouth you will see his lower mouth red” (i.e. inside bottom lip).

Sgt. Odumu’s crucial testimony came when he shed some light on surrounding situations and circumstances involved in the 1995 conviction of Ibori. Sgt. Odumu testified that following Ibori’s arrest and release on bail for the said offence he met Ibori in Bwari town and enquired of him about his case. According to Sgt. Odumu Ibori confirmed to him that he had indeed been arrested but that he had since been released on bail (pending investigation) with a condition to report back to Bwari police station at a later date.

His words:

“Some time in the month of September 1995, Mr. James Onanefe lbori the present governor of Delta state was arrested and taken to Bwari divisional police HQ FCT Abuja for offences of criminal breach of trust and negligent conduct. When the investigation was going on for his case he was released on bail.

I was still serving at Bwari police divisional HQ but as at the time he was released on bail I was not at the station, but I got to know that he was released because I saw him in Bwari town in September 1995. As somebody I know and I felt concerned I asked and he [ibori] told me that he was released on bail.”

Sgt Odumu stated that following the above encounter he did not see Ibori until the morning of the 28th of September 1995 in the Bwari Police station. On seeing Ibori Sgt Odumu said he enquired of Ibori whether he was attending the police station in compliance with his bail condition to which Ibori responded “yes”.

Following this encounter and in the course of his duties Sgt Odumu again met Ibori later that same day at about 2:00pm in the said Bwari court whilst he (Sgt Odumu) was prosecuting the case involving Shuaibu Anyebe as the Investigating Police Officer (IPO). Again he approached Ibori (before the commencement of the court proceedings) who replied “your people did not agree to settlement” and that that was why his case was being prosecuted to court.

His words:

“ASP Dauda asked me to take one Shualbu Anyebe to court because I investigated his case. When I took him to court on that same 28th September 1995. I took him along with his first information report (FIR). On reaching the court it was at about 2pm in the afternoon, I met James Onanefe lbori at the same Bwari court in Abuja. I still asked him so you are brought to court? And he said ‘yes your people did not agree settlement’. ‘my people’ mean my Superior officers.”

Sgt. Odumu further testified that following this encounter whilst in the said Bwari court he heard the case of Commissioner of Police vs James Onanefe being called and that he observed the subsequent proceedings (which were prosecuted by a Sunday Musa who applied for a summary trial) in which Ibori appeared, pleaded guilty to the charge as read to him and was subsequently convicted and sentenced by the presiding judge Alhaji Awal Yusuf. He further testified that Ibori paid the optional fine in lieu of a custodial sentence immediately.
alt

Sgt. Odumu went on to testify that following the 1999 General elections and the ensuing reports and coverage in different media he recognised Ibori (who was announced as being elected Governor of Delta State in 1999) as being the same person that he knew previously and who was convicted in the 1995 Bwari court proceedings.

In the course of his testimony Sgt. Odumu corroborated his evidence as to the identity of the convicted James Onanefe of Delta State by identifying Ibori as being the person in a picture that had been validly admitted as a court exhibit (ExhP1).

Alhaji Suleiman Belgore

The second witness was Alhaji Suleiman Belgore, Deputy Chief Registrar in charge of Personnel at the High Court FCT Abuja through whom “The Investigation Report by Hon Justice Lawal Hassan Gumni the Chief judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja” was tendered as an Exhibit (P3). The substance of the report by the Abuja Chief Judge was to render the finding that the then Delta State Governor is the same James Onanefe Ibori of Delta State that was convicted in 1995 by the Bwari court.

Boniface Onuoha

The third witness was Boniface Onuoha who testified that between 1994 and 1996 he was an employee crane driver with a company he called “Spiebat Nigeria Ltd” during the period that the company was contracted to work on the Lower Usman Dam project in Abuja. He stated that in 1995 Ibori worked for a haulage sub-contractor company he called “Mack Plant” and that he regularly loaded building materials like jumbo bags of cement, roofing zinc, and iron e.t.c on to the back of Mack Plant-owned trailers on the orders of Ibori at the building site. Mr Onuoha further stated that, along with others, he knew and addressed Ibori as “Oga James”. He described Ibori as “black, tall” and has a “round face” and stated that he could recognise Ibori “any where” because he was in close quarters contact with Ibori “steadily” (i.e. regularly).

Specifically, Mr Onuoha testified that on a particular day in 1995 he loaded some materials on the request of Ibori and that the following day a security guard came to the site with a policeman to question him about the goods that he had loaded the day before. He stated that he confirmed that he had indeed loaded the materials in question at the behest of “Oga James” (Ibori) and recalled that it happened after his “breaktime”.

He was then invited to accompany them to the Bwari police station where he identified the trailer that he had loaded and made a formal written statement to an officer he named as “Patrick Ode”. After he had given his statement he was cleared to leave the station and was informed by the police that Ibori was being held in a cell within the police station.

His testimony:

“They asked me to who? And I said Oga James. The police man said that they need me at the police station Bwari. Then I go to the police at Bwari Abuja. So when I go there they showed (me) the trailer said is this the trailer I load and I said yes. They started to write my statement…”

In the course of his testimony Mr Onuoha corroborated his evidence as to the identity of the person who worked for Mack Plant at the material time and ordered him to load the goods in question on to the back of the trailer by identifying Ibori as being the person in a picture that had been validly admitted as a court exhibit (ExhP1) thus: “I see exhibit P1 it’s the picture of Oga James. I first saw him in 1994”.

Under robust cross-examination Mr Onuoha insisted that James Ibori worked for “Mack plant” and that the goods in question were the property of “Spiebat”.

In his own words:

“Oga James de work for Mackplant. I don’t know if speibat has way bill. I am only crane operator. I worked for 3 years there. Yes speibat has gate. But I did not walk around to see whether there is fence. Yes it is true every vehicle must pass through that gate. I don’t know if all materials coming into the company are accurately accounted for by an officer. The white man, Mr Wizzey, is the person whom I take orders to load any time he comes around because we respect him. Oga James anytime he comes he told us the number to load when he is around and he will stand there up to the time we finished.”

In response to a question as to whether James Ibori got in to the lorry that took the goods in question away he stated: “Only Oga James followed it.”

Alhaji Awal Yusuf

The fourth witness was Alhaji Awal Yusuf who was the judge that convicted and sentenced a James Onanefe Ibori of Delta state in the Bwari court in September 1995. Alhaji Yusuf testified that on 28th of September 1995 he was scheduled to preside over 16 civil matters and two criminal trials. But that at 3:00pm when he was about to close and leave for the day the police brought six new First Information Reports (FIRs) one of which included Commissioner of Police vs James Onanefe Ibori which was prosecuted by a Cpl. Sunday Musa, and the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) was one Haruna Damaye who is now late. He said that the FIRs were read to the respective accused persons and that five of them including Ibori pleaded guilty and following Sunday Musa’s application for a summary trial he convicted and sentenced Ibori for Criminal Breach of Trust and Negligent Conduct.

He also confirmed that a Ibrahim Yau was the court clerk at the time. He recalled that Ibori paid the optional fine immediately. He also recalled the case involving Shuaibu Anyebe and that the IPO of that case was a Mambo Odumu and that a woman police officer “Helen” was the IPO in the Monica Innocent case. He also stated that he remembered the Ibori he convicted in 1995 as “young and handsome”.

He further testified that an (ASP) Dauda (who is also now late) tried to withdraw the case soon after he had retired to his chambers. He said he told ASP Dauda that as judge he was “functus officio” i.e that his powers as judge in a case ceased once conviction had taken place.

In his own words:

“Not quite 20 minutes after those convictions one ASP Dauda who was then the DCO of police station Bwari came to meet me in my chambers requesting to withdraw the FIR against James Onanefe Ibori, I told him that  a judge is functus officio after conviction. There is nothing I can do. The option is for him to appeal to the High court of Justice.”

Alhaji Yusuf stated that he did not see Ibori again until 23rd January 2003 at the instance of Barrister Bala Ngilari. Barrister Ngilari had been to see him in his chambers on the 21st of January 2003 and claimed to have been sent by Major General Sambo (rtd) who was Director of Military Intelligence under the regime of the late General Abacha. Barrister Ngilari showed him records of the proceedings in which James Onanefe Ibori was convicted in 1995. Alhaji confirmed that he could recall the case and remembers presiding over it. Barrister Ngilari then told Alhaji Yusuf that the James Onanefe Ibori in the said proceedings was the present Governor of Delta State (i.e Ibori) and that Ibori was “desperate” to meet with Alhaji Yusuf. An appointment was agreed for 23rd January 2003.

Alhaji Yusuf continued that on the appointed day he accompanied Barrister Ngilari to Delta State Government house in Asokoro, in Abuja where they met the Attorney-General (AG) of Delta State Professor Utuama (the current Delta State Deputy Governor) and discussed the said conviction of Ibori. Alhaji Yusuf said he confirmed to the AG that he could recognise Ibori if he saw him again and that five minutes later Ibori entered the room and was introduced to him. All four of them then discussed at length on whether or not the 1995 conviction of Ibori could be reversed. Alhaji Yusuf was then asked to go to an adjoining room whilst the remaining three continued discussing. After their discussion Ibori came into the adjoining room and told the judge:

“Judge the issue of conviction is trying to stop me from contesting, please assist me and I would pay you back in cash of N10 million in any denomination”.

Alhaji Yusuf said he responded to this entreaty by telling Ibori to direct the AG and Barrister Ngilari to see him. When they met he advised them to file a suit in the Bwari court to seek an identification parade to determine who the real James Onanefe Ibori is that was convicted in 1995. Accordingly this suit was filed by Ibori but was later aborted!

Alhaji Yusuf corroborated his evidence as to the identity of the person who he convicted and sentenced in 1995 and subsequently met in Delta State Government house in Asokoro, Abuja by identifying Ibori as being the person in a picture that had been validly admitted as a court exhibit (ExhP1), saying:

“The governor of Delta State is the one on the left hand side, this is the man I convicted on 28th of September 1995. I saw him and met him and I convicted him. This is also the man I had a meeting with on 23rd January 2003 at the Delta State House. By my right is Professor Utuama who was also present on this day at the meeting I had with the governor in January 2003 together with Bala Ngilari”.

Alhaji Yusuf was rigourously cross-examined on the discrepancies of case record numbers involving Shuaibu Anyebe and James Onanefe Ibori having the same case number of CR81/95 he explained that the record number had been tampered with and altered from “81” to “87” and also reported that pages “884 -885” of the Criminal Record Book of 1995 had been torn out and removed. He also stated that the duplicate copy issued for fines for Set 1995 was also missing. He stated that the illegal removal and alteration of the court’s records “must be the work of hidden crooks in the registry”.

James Ibori and then Chef Justice of Nigeria, Alfa Belgore

Delta State has a great misfortune of having been subjected to the antics and bold and big-chested greed of James Ibori and the silent collusion of a few who benefitted from the flagrant looting of that state’s treasury over eight years by the former governor, who is now being parceled to the United Kingdom at the request of her Majesty’s law enforcement agencies. Ibori will face various charges relating to the looting of the treasury of Delta State. But Delta State is today in the hands of James Ibori’s cousin, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduagban. Uduagban was commissioner and later secretary to the state government in the administration of his cousin for eight years. He is now the state’s governor and he just turned 56.

 Turning 56 years is a land mark for the Delta State governor to roll out the drums and for his sidekicks and errand boys to put thirty-two (32) full pages of congratulatory adverts in one single Nigerian newspaper! I flipped one page after another and decided to count. I counted thirty-two full pages of “happy birthday” adverts! A show of shame cannot be greater than that. Even for a governor whose predecessor did worse things with the state’s federal allocation, special allocation for oil producing states, and internally generated revenue and is being held in Dubai pending transfer to the British, I consider Dr. Uduagban right on the same path to perdition and destruction. He may never live to spend his loot in freedom and outside of prisons. At the moment I am more concerned and interested in the plight of Delta State and its people. When will development come to Delta State? Where are the billions of naira already allocated and looted? With so much unrest and hardship, is there hope for the youths of Delta State when the state’s allocations are stolen and looted? The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is actively investigating various financial crimes involving the administration of Dr. Uduagban. The Federal High Court in Lagos recently agreed with the EFCC and asked it to proceed with its investigation and prosecution. What has kept Dr. Uduagban off the hook for now is the immunity he currently enjoys as a sitting governor. Dr. Uduagban’s file with the EFCC is said to be kept in close view considering the unbelievable level of looting that has gone on in Delta State despite the huge levels of poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment and lack among the youths in the state, a situation that has degenerated and is still on a downward spin into kidnapping, gun-running, discontent, and frustration among the youths of the state. How has it become difficult to wrestle the state from the clutches of these few bad elements that are holding the future of young men and women in Delta State hostage?

The Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) was one of the agencies of the state government that used tax payers’ money to felicitate with the governor in a one full-page congratulatory advert in a national newspaper. The others were contractors and sidekicks who have everything to gain. DESOPADEC manages billions of naira in development funds, but most of DESOPADEC’s contractors are said to be fronting for the governor with substantial payments made to the governor and his fronts for contracts poorly executed and several abandoned.

It is very baffling that the attitude of “business as usual” has been at play in Delta State for more than a decade. No governor who is doing very well needs the congratulatory messages and advertorials in the newspapers to support their performance records. Only those governors who have failed miserably in their service to the people like Alao-Akala in Oyo State and Dr. Uduagban in Delta needed to pay so much money to newspapers to sing their own praise-songs of victory and success. I know Governor Raji Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State is not paying to have sycophants sing his praise in Nigerian newspapers; Fashola gets it for free. He had worked hard for it and toiled day and night; he paid for it that way and as such it did not cost him anything in monetary terms.

The work Fashola has put in and the improvements in the living conditions of the people of his state are enough evidence of his contribution and successes. One thousand advertorials and congratulatory messages will not buy that. I would have guessed that Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduagban will know that and should have known better. He wants to buy success and praise! All the sycophants around him will offer him praise in return for the crumbs they are lapping from under his table, but the jobless, hungry, homeless masses and the poor and needy senior citizens in Delta State have nothing to offer him beside curses and cry to God to get rid of him as soon as possible.

I suspected Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduagban’s congratulatory adverts must have flooded so many other Nigerian newspapers beside the nearly three dozens of pages I counted in the Vanguard. What do the congratulatory messages avail him? At the cost of more than N500, 000 a page when in colour, the money squandered on congratulatory messages in that one paper alone is more than N16 million and it should be enough to provide allowances of N10, 000 to more than 1, 600 senior citizens of Delta State who are going without as we write and read this article.

Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduagban has every reason to be displeased with the ruling of the Federal High Court in Lagos the very same way (and rightly so) the masses of Delta State are displeased, disappointed and frustrated with the way he is mismanaging the funds of the state. He will surely not be qualified to contest the next governorship in the state and the EFCC must stop him not only from contesting but also from fleeing the land as his cousin James Ibori did. Deltans have been so unfortunate to have their beloved state end up in the hands of common thieves who cared only about themselves, only considering their sidekicks good enough for crumbs. Delta State is also involved with Oceanic Bank in some shady deals dating back to the heady days of the former governor and current fugitive James Ibori. The people of Delta State must stand up and stand together to set the state free from those who want political office for solely personal gains.

Asaba — The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday arraigned a 39-year-old branch manager of United Bank of Africa, Victor Onodavwerho, on a four count charge before a Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State, for offences bordering on stealing and illegal conversion of depositors fund for personal use.

Onodavweho, a father of seven children was alleged to have as branch manager/relationship manager of UBA, Asaba branch, illegally withdrawn the sum of N32 million from depositors accounts which he paid into his personal account with Fidelity Bank Plc.

When the charges were read to him in court, he pleaded not guilty to the four count charge. Consequently, counsel to EFCC,Kayode Oni, asked the court to fix a date for trial. He also asked the court to remand the accused person in prison pending the determination of the case.

However, counsel to the accused person, K. O. Ijatui, asked the court to grant his client bail because the alleged offences were bailable. He also stated that the accused person has been on EFCC administrative bail since 2008. He told the court that since the accused person has not jumped bail since 2008, he would still not jump bail even if he is allowed to go home. He said the accused person voluntarily turned up in court yesterday at the invitation of EFCC and that he would continue to do so whenever he is called upon. Counsel to EFCC vehemently opposed the application for bail. He told the court that though the commission granted the suspect administrative bail, the circumstances of the case has changed.

Justice Ibrahim Buba however granted the accused person bail. He stated that if the accused person has been enjoying administrative bail, he has no difficulty granting him judicial bail pending the determination of the case.

He  thereafter granted the accused bail in the sum of N50 million and a surety in like sum.

The surety should have landed property within the jurisdiction of the court and that the Certificate of Occupancy of the property be deposited with the court registrar.

The judge also ordered that the passport photographs of the accused and the surety be deposited in court.

The accused person is also to write an undertaking that he would not delay the trial of the case.

The judge ordered that until the bail conditions were meant, the accused person should be remanded in prison custody.

Justice Ibrahim Buba then adjourned the case to November 10 for trial.

The court therefore ruled that Ibori be extradited to the United Kingdom to face charges of money laundering, credit card fraud and official theft. UK authorities have successfully prosecuted Ibori’s sister, Christine Ibie-Ibori, and his mistress, Udoamaka Okoronkwo (nee Onuigbo) on those charges. Both women are serving jail terms in a UK prison.

Ibori’s wife, Theresa Nkoyo, and one of his UK-based lawyers, Bhadresh Gohil are also currently facing trial in a London courtroom. A legal analyst familiar with the evidence against them told Saharareporters that they are likely to be convicted and sentenced to jail terms as well.

A source close to Ibori said that the former governor was distraught by the verdict as some of his friends in Dubai had promised him that they could reach the judge and get him a favorable ruling. “I can assure you that Chief Ibori will ask his lawyers to file an appeal before the appellate court in the UAE,” said the source.

Mr. Ibori has 30 days to file for and receive an appellate decision.

Ibori’s associates in Nigeria had been preparing for a victorious outcome for him. In fact, several sources close to him revealed that he had ordered the renovation of his country home in Oghara, Delta State, for what he envisaged as a triumphant return. Instead, as one UK prosecutor put it this morning, “the day of reckoning for this fugitive in a UK court is near at hand.”

Last week, Turai Yar’adua, the wife of former Nigerian ruler Umaru Yar’adua reportedly visited Mr. Ibori in Dubai. Former Governor Ibori was a close associate and confidante of Mr. Yar’adua who died last May. One source said Turai Yar’adua’s visit to Ibori was to express her gratitude for all Ibori did to sustain her late husband in power. Mrs. Yar’adua had earlier traveled to Saudi Arabia to mark the end of her mourning period and to perform the lesser hajj-(Umrah), according to a source close to her.