By Chinyere Aruogu
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, imprisoned former governor of Delta State, James Onanefe Ibori, will walk away from the United Kingdom’s jail a freeman come next month, December 20.
Ibori was found guilty of money laundering offences and jailed by the Southwark Crown court in 2012.
Ibori, one time governor of oil-producing Delta State from 1999 to 2007 became one of Nigeria’s richest and most powerful men until he ran away from Nigeria, apparently to evade arrest and proper prosecution.
He was eventually arrested by the Metropolitan Police in Dubai and taken to UK where he detained and charges of money laundering pressed against him which eventually led to his being handed down a 13-year sentence after pleading guilty to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering.
On December 20, Ibori would have completed his jail term in prison in the United Kingdom in line with the plea bargain sentence his lawyers negotiated with the Metropolitan prosecutors in 2012 that paved the way for his sentencing by the court.
However, Ibori may not be heading for Nigeria immediately after he leaves the UK prisons because of the legal proceedings regarding the confiscation of his assets worth millions of dollars by the court. The confiscation proceedings are already on, but a twist was not long ago added to the matter following allegations of police corruption and the likely of Ibori proceeding to the Court of Appeal over confiscation of his assets.
A London court was told recently that Ibori would appeal against his conviction on the grounds that British police and lawyers involved in his matter were themselves corrupt.
His lawyer, Ivan Krolick told Southwark Crown Court last week that Ibori was “95 percent certain” to challenge his conviction in the Court of Appeal based on documents that have only recently been disclosed to the defence by the prosecution.
During the same hearing, Stephen Kamlish, a lawyer for Ibori’s associate, Bhadresh Gohil who was also convicted for money laundering for 10 years said the documents showed there had been widespread police corruption followed by a cover-up that was still going on now.
While in office, he acquired luxury properties in Britain, the United States, South Africa and Nigeria.
According to Kamlish, prosecution lawyers knew there was evidence of police corruption but failed to disclose it to defence lawyers. He told Reuters that Ibori did not know about the payments at the time.
But the police have said the allegation was well investigated and that no one was arrested or charged, and no misconduct identified.
The main allegation is that a police officer involved in the Ibori probe took payments for information in 2007 from a firm of private detectives working on Ibori’s behalf. Then, Ibori was still walking free in Nigeria, but knew British police were investigating his finances.
Regardless, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in September, after a lengthy internal investigation, it was confident the convictions of Ibori and Gohil stand.