The Court of Appeal Criminal Division sitting in London today handed down a devastating ruling against former Governor James Onanefe Ibori of Delta State.
Saharareporters gathered that the appellate court unanimously ruled that the Southwark Crown Court erred when it lifted the restraining order on Ibori's worldwide assets on October 1 2007. In what amounted to a sharp rebuke of the lower court, the appellate justices said the "restraining order should never have been lifted" in the first place.
The court therefore re-instated the restraint order on the former governor’s worldwide assets worth $35 million. They also ruled that all of Ibori's worldwide assets are protected from dissipation. That means that neither Ibori nor his agents would be able to transfer or otherwise use the assets.
Legal experts say the landmark ruling provides a critical and much-needed boost for the Metropolitan Police as they continue further criminal investigations into extensive money laundering activities carried out by Ibori and several accomplices. “Ibori is clearly in the pressure cooker,” said a lawyer familiar with the case but who sought anonymity. “He is, legally speaking, in a huge mess. The ruling means that the justices are convinced that there’s substantial—perhaps even overwhelming—evidence against Mr. James Ibori.”
Ibori’s well-oiled and usually boisterous propaganda machinery seemed to anticipate the latest legal reversal. In the past, the former governor’s handlers had issued boastful press releases declaring his confidence in winning. This time around, the governor seemed to have been cowed into a wait-and-see attitude.
One legal analyst told Saharareporters that today’s legal loss for Ibori at the Court of Appeal came despite Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa’s ploy to help the former governor. According to a legal expert, Mr. Andoakaa’s refusal to invoke "Article 3" of the Mutual Agreement Treaty on Corruption between the UK and Nigeria “was calculated to frustrate the Metropolitan Police and mar Ibori’s ongoing prosecution in London.” The treaty is meant as a tool to enable the two countries to cooperate in the pursuit of corruption cases.
A UK court source told Saharareporters that Nigeria's Attorney General went beyond that, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa reportedly sent another letter through Ibori's lawyers in London to the Appeal Court judges to stop the proceedings, his letter was dismissed by the judges as they reinstated the restraint order today.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });