- 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
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.
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.”
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.
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