EFCC prepares welcome 'party' for James Ibori after UK jail and DSS interrogation
- The EFCC is set to 'welcome' ex-Delta state governor James Ibori back home with a 170-count charge that had been pending in court while he was serving his sentence in a UK jail
- And EFCC source confirmed that some of the charges pending in court that Ibori would now be prosecuted for include an attempt to bribe a government official in ex-EFCC boss Nuhu Ribadu with $15million cash
- Also leveled against Ibori in the charges is the allegation of the diversion of around N40billion of Delta state funds for personal use
Ibori is not out of the woods yet after spending about six years in a UK jail
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is set to arrest former Delta state governor James Ibori who just returned from serving around six years in a UK jail.
The Punch reports that prior to his conviction in UK, the EFCC had dragged Ibori before an Asaba High Court on a 170-count charge. These charges, the anti-corruption agency says, still stand and it will have to arrest and prosecute Ibori for them.
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The charges followed allegations that Ibori diverted N40bn Delta state government funds while in power and tried to bribe ex-EFCC chairman Nuhu Ribadu with $15m cash.
Although the an Asaba High Court struck out the 170 charges levelled against Ibori, an appeal by EFCC was granted by a three-man panel of justices at Appeal Court, Benin Division on May 15, 2014, saying that corruption matter against the ex-governor should be reopened when he completes his jail term in the UK.
An EFCC source Ibori would soon be invited for questioning.
The source said: “Ibori still has 170 charges pending against him. Also, the Appeal Court has given us the go-ahead to prosecute him and this ruling has not been upturned by the Supreme Court.
“As things stand, the EFCC has the right to arrest him at anytime. Ibori, among other allegations, was accused of embezzling N40bn which belonged to the state. Also, a former Chairman of the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, alleged that the former governor attempted to bribe him with $15m cash.”
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Ibori returned to Nigeria on Saturday, February 4 after completing his jail term in the United Kingdom.
He has since paid a visit to the offices of the Department of State Services (DSS) after he was picked up by operatives of the secret police on his arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Ignoring the level of corruption that landed Ibori in a London jail, an aide to Delta state governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Ovie Success Ossai, has said that the ex-governor did well for the state.
Ossai said though Ibori was made to pass through hard time in the United Kingdom, he is worthy of emulation.
He wondered how many politicians in Nigeria could boast of being welcome and celebrated even from prison as Ibori was given by the people of Delta state.