Published 21 July, 2022
The Niger Delta Patriots, NDP, yesterday took a strong stand against persons they described as “wicked and frightened men,” who are scared shirtless by the political ascendancy of former governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe Ibori.
The NDP, a group of Niger Delta intellectuals, said Ibori’s traducers are the very same people who wined and dined with him , but turned around to stick a knife in his back.
In a statement, the group’s president, Dr. Erimeruke Okome, stated that Ibori was more of a victim of high-power- political-play in Nigeria which found its way into the stern and unforgiving British legal system, with predictable consequences.
Going down memory lane, Dr. Okome recalled that the charges against Ibori died a natural death in the Nigeria legal system but as soon as the same charges were transposed on the British legal system, all hell was let loose.
” As someone who has spent considerable time studying the sociology of the British society, it is obvious that the extra legal considerations that undergird legal decisions in the Nigeria system cannot survive in the British system.
A recent example is the arrest, conviction and sentencing of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu,” he said, adding ” this is not to say that the Nigeria system is inferior but every legal system draws oxygen from the sociological considerations that undergird its society.
“Many common daily practices in Nigeria, for instance, will receive hefty sentences in British Courts and because of this, a large spectrum of Nigerian elites whether in politics, business and other walks of life, know it is wise to stay away from the British legal system.
” Large sections of Delta State grieve and continue to grieve what happened to Ibori. We all recall the background events, especially his relentless pursuit of the 13 per cent oil derivation for Niger Delta States and his support for then Vice President Atiku Abubakar, over President Olusegun Obasanjo in the succession politics of 2003, as the dominant political considerations that led to his persecution in Nigeria.
“However, Ibori still remains the poster boy of development in Delta State and a reference point in the South South. In Delta State, it is a well known fact that far reaching and forward thinking development ended 16 years ago when Ibori left office as Governor.”
Dr. Okeme fumed that Ibori’s successors are more guilty of the technicalities that put him in trouble in the UK. ” So, let him who is righteous cast the first stone and then Deltans will truly rise against such,” he charged.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for damning critics and identifying Ibori’s political gravitas and wide respect in the Niger Delta and South-South and for “choosing to quietly work with a good man who ran into bad weather.”
He said Deltans and indeed, the entire South-South look forward to great strides of development under the President Tinubu government as steps are already being taken to address the challenges of seaports in Delta State.
“No doubt, the resuscitation of the seaports will bring life back into Delta State and the entire Niger Delta region,” Dr. Okome enthused.
Ibori’s Reacts:
Chief James Ibori’s reaction to London court’s confiscation order of today’s as appears on his Facebook wall.
Albert Einstein is quoted as saying that the “definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”.
If that is true then I must be going mad because in over a decade since the British Courts have been persecuting myself and those close to me – I kept believing that justice and fairness would eventually triumph.
In hearing after hearing through the years, despite some of the most logic defying rulings against me- I still believed. Despite clear evidence of police corruption against the main officer in my case (evidence so strong that it caused the lead prosecutor to resign from my case) I still believed. Despite a clear victory in my 2013 Confiscation hearing which left the Judge unable to make an order against me, only to have him rule that the prosecution should start the trial afresh some years later – I still believed.
However, today’s ruling from Judge Tomlinson is difficult to comprehend and even harder to accept. I have to move past the fact that the British Courts found themselves competent to sit in Judgment over contracts awarded in Delta State for contracts that were legitimately awarded and completed. I have come to accept my fate despite the inability of the British prosecutors to show any evidence whatsoever of monies defrauded or indeed missing from Delta State.
Since 2005 the British Prosecutors have investigated my assets worldwide, they have had a restraint order in place on most of those assets and they are well aware that the total monetary value of those assets is nowhere close to the sums that were the subject of today’s Order. Not withstanding the fact that many of the assets are not and have never been owned by me – it seems that if you are my friend and you allowed me to spend some holiday time in your house, then by this order I now own your home and must ask you to sell it to satisfy the Order.
The Order made today was to be paid immediately, this was made in the full knowledge that it could take many months to actually realise the sale of many of these assets. There is an 8 year default sentence, which means that if I do not co-operate and pay nothing at all, then the prosecution can apply for the imposition of the default sentence. However as the prosecution already has a Restraint Order over the assets – the situation of my not co-operating or paying will not arise.
However, an issue arises if my Restrained Assets are sold, and the total realised from the sale does not equal the amount in the Order, then the Prosecution can still apply for part of the default sentence to be applied, but they could only ask for a sliding scale reduction of the 8 years default sentence based on the amounts
that remain outstanding. If such an application were to be made it would be vigorously contested. In the normal course of events any talk of a default sentence would normally be stayed until any outstanding Appeal has been concluded.
The Judge in this case has appears to have cast aside any pretence of impartiality and has made an Order which is both wholly unrealistic and unrealisable. He has completely disregarded any arguments, evidence or expert witnesses in my favour. It was apparent during these last 2 days that he has forgotten many of the important elements of the case which is unsurprising as it almost 2 years since the case concluded. It has taken him 2 years to write this Judgment and in the interim he has presided over hundreds of cases, but I refuse to make excuses for him.
At this point in time words fail me and so the question for me as I take my case to the Court of Appeal, is, if I continue to believe that I may finally get some Justice is this the definition of madness? I know one thing for sure, that if I do not go to the Court of Appeal to contest this outrageous Order then my people will definitely say that I am a madman!
