Ibori: Entangled victory in corruption trial

The Court in Asaba had, penultimate Thursday, freed Ibori of the initial 170-count charge essentially of money laundering against him. It became another landmark judgement akin to that which sent Bode George into jail. Just as not many people expected that erstwhile influential Bode George would go to jail at a Judge’s command, not many […]

The Court in Asaba had, penultimate Thursday, freed Ibori of the initial 170-count charge essentially of money laundering against him. It became another landmark judgement akin to that which sent Bode George into jail. Just as not many people expected that erstwhile influential Bode George would go to jail at a Judge’s command, not many believed that Ibori would survive the Asaba judgement day. The case against him seemed unassailable.

From Asaba to Kaduna

Ibori had been on trial since he left office in 2007. He was first before the Federal High Court in far flung Kaduna, where he spent two months in jail after being refused bail;  and then in the Federal High Court, Asaba, where he had been on trial since December13, 2007. The case suffered several adjournments before Justice Marcel Awokunlehim delivered the milestone judgement which made Ibori a hero once again in the sight of his supporters.

In discharging the former governor, the trial judge said the prosecution failed to prove that a prima facie case had been established. The prosecutors, the judge maintained, did not assemble reasonable evidence to support their charges.

Justice Awokulehin, who adjourned ruling on the case on four occasions, said, “Going strictly on the evidence before this court, I hold that the application for quash has merit and accordingly the charges be and, are hereby quashed and the accused persons are hereby discharged.”

Standing trial with ibori had been two other individuals: Udoamaka Okoronkwo and Chiedu Ebie; as well as three companies: Mer Engineering Nig. Ltd, Bainenox Nig Ltd, and Sagicon Nig. Ltd.

Ibori and his supporters were excited by the ruling. Ibori told court correspondents, “This December has made it two years of frequent court appearances and the uncommon support I have received from my numerous friends and supporters strengthened me all through the struggle to get justice.”

We’ve been vindicated –Ibori’s ex-commissioner

On his part, the Delta State Deputy Governor, Professor Amos Utuama described the court judgment as having vindicated Ibori and silenced his traducers. Utuama’s private law firm was alleged in the EFFC’s case against Ibori as having been used to launder money during Ibori’s reign. Utuama was Ibori’s attorney general and commissioner for justice.

Speaking to newsman soon after the Asaba ruling, Utuama, a SAN, said, “I feel vindicated because although I was attorney general of Delta State, as a lawyer whose chambers is registered, the chambers can practice law for financial reward. The enemies got it wrong. They thought as a public officer, the chamber is also a public officer that cannot undertake the practice of law. That is not the law. The law is very clear to the extent that the chambers being a registered, incorporated chamber, is a separate entity which can be engaged in practice of law for reward. It was duly declared by me right from 1999 to date that I own a chambers. So I feel it is a vindication that Professor Utuama and the chambers have done nothing for which they should be persecuted. So it was all persecution but with faith in God and trust in the independence of the judiciary, we’ve been vindicated. So we thank God.”

As ‘vindicated’ Ibori and his group celebrated, the EFCC spoke of an instant appeal. The commission’s spokesman Femi Babafemi said, “This kind of judgment, if not challenged, is capable of deepening the menace of corruption in our country rather than contributing in any way to the cause of justice which is the basis of sustaining our democratic governance. In view of our determination to prosecute this case to a logical conclusion, and our strong belief that this hazy judgment cannot stand based on available evidence, we have to prosecute the case, we have instructed our lawyers to immediately file an appeal against Justice Awokulehin’s judgment at a higher court.”

The Commission was consequently in the Court of Appeal in Benin in the last workday before the December 23 – 27 Christmas holiday to see if it could drag Ibori back into the plethora of charges it started against him.

‘Can’t see why the prosecution failed’

Numerous Nigerians who complain about the pro-Ibori ruling wish the EFCC luck.

“Something terrifying must have happened because some of the charges are so obvious,” an anti-corruption campaigner, Mr. David Okoror told Sunday Trust in an interview. He added, “It was as clear as daylight that something was wrong. How did it happen that the prosecutors could not find evidence to prove their charges that this man was actually culpable? It was on the same charges in Kaduna that the judge locked up Ibori for so long. It was based on the same set of charges. There were compelling evidences.”

Okoror who runs a nongovernmental organization, the Africa in Diaspora Initiative (ADi) as the director general continued, “Something must have gone wide off the mark, particularly with the prosecution, because it will be incorrect for us to blame judges. Judges are arbiters. They just look at what the prosecutors are presenting and the ability of the defense to prove the innocence of their client. So, in this matter something fundamental went wrong. Some people are suggesting that there is collusion. I don’t want to look at that theory. I just want to say that this case was so glaring, that fraud was perpetuated, that the EFCC should not have lost it.”

He said the judgment required intervention by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and civil society groups.

“NBA should investigate,” he charged. He substantiated, “If they fold their hands and do nothing, then they are culprits. The actors in this case, the prosecutors and the defense lawyers, are all members of the NBA. There is something smelling in the air. They should act and call their members to order. That’s number one. Number two: civil societies should stand up and ask questions: How could a case with such circumstantial evidences be lost? Nigerians should rise and say not again, because if Ibori is not made to account for his deeds, it will be a worse case another day.”

Self-styled master of intrigues

Okoror said he suspected foul play, especially because Ibori had said publicly that he was a master of intrigues: “I heard him on radio say that he, Ibori, is a master of intrigues. This was during the 2007 election. If someone can call himself a master of intrigues in a radio interview, you can be sure that he will pull his weight around to achieve his objective.”

Okoror dismissed allegation that Ibori was being persecuted by certain people who have a score to settle with him, or because he stood and still stands for resource control. He said, “The elder statesman and Ibori’s kinsman in terms of the part of the country they both come from, Chief Edwin Clark, has said that Ibori stole Delta State blind. Is he fighting Ibori because of resource control? That’s one. Two, Ibori is being prosecuted in London, another part of the world. Is London interested in his case because of resource control? Ibori is not a victim of anyone’s malice. In any case, Ibori is one of the most powerful people in Nigeria today. He is so powerful, so well-connected that he determines much of what happens to many people today.”

The emergence of Nigeria’s chief law officer, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation Michael Aondoakaa, and chairman of the country’s leading fighter against corruption, the EFCC, Mrs Farida Waziri is linked to Ibori. Many feel this could be why Ibori may never be successfully prosecuted.

For the Asaba judgment, a critic said a day after: “James Ibori, the face of Corruption in Nigeria has been cleared of all corruption charges! What a way to fight Corruption in Nigeria. Everyone who knew the game EFCC and the AGF have been playing knew this judgment before yesterday!”

For Mike Ileramo, a trained lawyer and pro-democracy activist, “This is a country where anything can happen.” He elaborated, “Horses can fly in this country. What should you not expect?  It is now corruption legalized. It’s a corrupt country and corrupt court rulings are part of the whole sordid picture.”

Most critics don’t know the issues –Ibori’s spokesman

Ibori’s media man, Tony Eluemunor, who spoke to Sunday Trust on the judgment, said most of the criticisms against Ibori were founded on ignorance of the issues involved.

Eluemunor said, “All who have read the judgment laugh at the shallowness of the charges. Most Nigerians talk about 170 charges, but Ibori’s lawyers, the defense team, reduced them to 13. 13 points; and the judge accepted them as such. The judge treated them as 13. It is a surprise how media houses have been awash with reports on the judgment without really knowing the issues. I don’t blame the reporters. Some of them are not well grounded in judicial reporting, but what about the editors? No one of them did as much as ask for the brief. No single editor, no columnist, including those now writing nonsense, none of them asked to see the judgment. If they had seen the judgment they would have known that this is not even a corruption case. They didn’t charge him for corruption. They only charged him for moving money from here to there, what is called money laundry charges. All of them, money laundry. Not the issue of bribery. Money laundry, and the charges collapsed.”

Asked what excepted money laundry from corruption, Tony returned, “They said he took money to places without following legal routes. There are no indications that the money came from dirty means: not narcotics, not child trafficking. Money laundry charges and anti-corruption charges are two different sets of charges.”

Pressed on the public outcry that the court could not pin Ibori to at least one of even the pruned charges, Tony asked, “Is it a condition that of whatever charges someone raises against you one must stand? Must a judge labour himself trying to make a charge stick? That will no longer be a judge. That will no longer be a disinterested arbiter.”

Whatever anyone may think, indications remain strong that the case at the Asaba High Court ended in Ibori’s favour largely because the prosecution was weak. Why it had to be so is what is proving difficult to determine. No less an authority in law than Ricky Tarfa (a SAN), said after the judgement had been given that the decision of the court must have been based on lack of evidence before it. He has been quoted as explaining, “Though I have not read the judgment, I know that judgments are based on law and not morals. So, the learned justice may have based his conclusion on what was presented before him, and I salute his courage for making his pronouncements.”

For people who are not satisfied, the case is far from ending. The EFCC which has taken the case to the Court of Appeal is expected to follow it through. As the case progresses, it may become clear whether or not the EFCC is merely playing to the gallery, as many have suggested, or whether Ibori is indeed innocent of the charges against him.

How it all started

Money laundering allegations in August 2007 made a court in London to freeze Ibori’s assets in the United Kingdom. The assets were valued at 17 million pounds.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested him around the same time in Abuja and charged him with theft of public funds and money laundering. He was accused of stealing billions of state funds and laundering most of it abroad.

Before the EFCC moved against him, he, having largely funded the presidential campaign of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, saw himself as a kingmaker who deserved something substantial in return. He was said to be angling for a ministerial slot, preferably Minister of Petroleum Resources, or the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Besides other benefits that a ministerial position would have drawn to him, he was said to have desired the office for the leverage it would provide him against constant harassment by the EFCC. It was the same EFCC, reports had it at the time, that instigated the president against his choice as minister on account of substantial case of misdemeanor hanging on his neck.

EFCC’s position on Ibori gained substance from reports that Ibori was at the time already being hounded by the Police in the United Kingdom and United States. For this reason, Ibori who was believed to be considering a life in either of the countries, had to remain in Nigeria. As if to prove him right, his wife, Mrs. Theresa Ibori, was arrested at the Heathrow Airport in November 2007 while she was waiting to board a plane to Nigeria.

Theresa’s arrest was said to have been informed by her husband’s investigation by the British Police which froze his assets in the United Kingdom earlier in October. Before then, three persons alleged to have featured in Ibori’s alleged money laundering had been arrested in London. They were the ex–governor’s personal assistant Adebimpe Pogoson, his sister Christine Ibori–Ibie, and a female associate Udoamaka Okoronkwo. Theresa, a British citizen, was arrested by men of the Proceeds of Corruption Unit of the Metropolitan Police but was soon released on bail.

Ibori was alleged to have stolen billions of naira when he was in government, mainly during his second term (2003 to 2007) and laundered some of it in Britain, committing offences under Section 327 and 328 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 of Britain.