The criminal case against James Ibori continues to chalk up controversy as it grinds to a conclusion
Never in the recent history of the judiciary in Nigeria has a criminal case generated such huge controversy. From December, 2007 when he was charged to court for corruption at the Federal High Court, Kaduna , the arraignment of his wife, mistress and aides in a London court for money laundering among other charges to his current trial at the Federal High Court, Asaba, the case against James Ibori, former governor of Delta State, has gained notoriety as a big judicial circus show. As the nation awaited the verdict of the Federal High Court, Asaba scheduled for last Friday on whether there is any case against Ibori or not, the drama took a new turn. Edwin Clerk, 82, a respected leader statesman from the Niger Delta wrote separate petitions to Idris Kutigi, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, and President Umaru Yar Adua expressing concern over the possibility of a miscarriage of justice in the Ibori case. In the same vein, the Delta State Elders Forum, which Clerk also heads, also wrote an open letter to Marcel Awokulehin, the presiding judge in the Ibori case in Abuja asking him to disqualify himself having shown “elements of bias”. The Forum equally fired another letter to Lamido Sanusi, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, demanding for a report on the status of the $15m with which Ibori allegedly tried to bribe the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The Forum demanded that the money which is said to have been in the custody of the CBN be returned into the coffers of the Delta State government.
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Besides the petitions written by people from the state, in October, the CJN queried Awokulehin over allegation of gross misconduct in his handling of the Ibori case. The judge was given until last Friday, November 15, 2009, to reply to the query.
The increasing agitation by Delta State indigenes over the case in the last two weeks or so is obviously in anticipation of the judgment in the Ibori case which was scheduled for last Friday. In his petition to the CJN, Clerk asked that Kutigi to halt the trial in Asaba billed for November 6. He also asked the CJN to “cause the transfer of the judge whose integrity and honour is already in doubt”. First, recalling that Awokulehin had already been queried for gross misconduct in the case, Clerk argued that “it is not in the interest of justice and fair play for the same judge whose reply to the charge of gross misconduct has not been investigated and cleared of the grave allegations to sit in court over the case on the 6th of November, 2009”, which is two days after the deadline given him to reply to the query.
But in his petition to the President, the elder statesman gave a broader basis for the fears being expressed about the Asaba trial and the demand that the trial be handed over to another judge. The petition in form of an open letter in its preamble pointed to the president’s oft stated support for the fight against corruption as well as statements credited to him the effect that his administration “would continue to support the independence of the nation’s anti corruption agencies because that is the most enduring way to drastically reduce the menace of corruption in the country”. But Clerk said that some of the president’s aides including Michael Aondoakaa, the minister of justice and attorney general of federation “have continued to pollute the atmosphere needed by Mr. President to wage war against corruption in the country successfully”.
To buttress his accusation, Clerk gave the instance of “the deliberate refusal of the AGD to cooperate with the British government under the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement Treaty, MLAT. He continued that Aondoakaa had deliberately ill – advised and misled the President in refusing to cooperate with the British authorities.
Clerk also frowned at the entire process that the Ibori’s case has so far gone through, concluding that the entire case has blemished the President’s anti corruption posture. HE specifically berated the judgment of the Kaduna Court of Appeal which transferred the case to the Federal High Court, Asaba. He demanded that the case be transferred back to the chief judge of the federal high court for reassignment to a competent court. First, he queries the creation of a division of the federal high court in Asaba purposely to try the Ibori case and alleged a lot of underhand dealings in the entire transfer and handling of the case in Asaba. For instance, he stated that the court building was acquired by the Delta State government from Raymos Guana, commissioner for Lands and Survey who served as Ibori’s special adviser on local governments. In conclusion, Clerk asked the President to direct that the AGF comply with the request of the British government under the MLAT, that the EFCC be made to change the lawyer prosecuting the Ibori case because of his alleged bias and that the case be transferred from Awokulehin, particularly as he has been queried over the same case. The petition to the President was signed by Clerk and 15 others.
In the letter written to Awokulehin, the Delta Elders Forum told the judge, “the manner in which you wrote directly to another judge in foreign jurisdiction without following well laid down procedures is a source of displeasure in Warri”. The Forum submitted that it would not be in the interest of justice and fair play for him to go ahead and sit over the case after being queried for misconduct in his handling of the matter. It therefore asked the judge to disqualify himself from presiding over the trial of Ibori “ as you have wittingly or unwittingly shown element of bias as the presiding judge in this matter. The forum concluded that by his actions the judge would not be able to dispense justice without fear or favour.
James Ibori is facing trial at the Federal High Court, Asaba on 170 count corruption charges. The case originally commenced at the Federal High Court, Kaduna on December 13, 2007. However, Ibori challenged the competence of the court to hear the case in an offence committed in far away Asaba. The trial judge said he would hear the case but recourse to the Court of Appeal paid off for Ibori as the appellate court agreed that the case be moved to Asaba or the nearest high court. There was no Federal High Court in Asaba but one was quickly created and designated to handle the case. Many turns of events have given many Nigerians, particularly lawyers and concerned people of Delta State origin, some worry. The situation was compounded when the trial judge in Asaba broke all judicial protocols and wrote a letter to the Southwark Crown Court, London which is trying Ibori's wife, sister and aides asking it to stop hearing the case until he dispenses with the Nigerian case. There have been speculations that the game plan is to manipulate and dismiss the case against Ibori in Nigeria as a strategy to stall the British trial. Awokusehin was supposed to rule on an application by Ibori asking the court to dismiss the case against him. The flurry of petitions in the last two weeks was to prevent Awokusehin from delivering that ruling because many stakeholders in the matter believe that not only has the whole trial process been compromised, the judge is also not trusted to be in the position to fairly and honestly try the case.
As at the time of going to press last week, Awokusehin’s verdict was still being expected just as any reaction to the petitions to the President and the CJN. But Debo Adeniran, executive chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CAOCL, said that Nigerians would not be surprised if the charges against Ibori are quashed because “recent gymnastics by the trial judge had suggested that the process had been compromised” He stated that “the two weeks given to the judge to reply the query given to him expired today (last Wednesday) so we need to give them some time to look at his reply and take action. But if he goes ahead to sit on the case and dismiss the charges we will look at it on its merits but we will act appropriately”
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