Ibori Gets Jail Sentence, Today

Former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori, will be getting a jail sentence today or tomorrow by the Southwark Crown Court in London.

The court had on Monday, February 27 fixed April 16 and 17 for sentencing of the ex-governor after he pleaded guilty to 10 counts charge of money-laundering and conspiracy to defraud.

The Tide recalls that Ibori decided on a plea bargain agreement with the UK police to shorten the case and get a lighter sentence in return.

Our correspondent gathered that Britain has reportedly spent over £14 million in pursuing the case while legal charges were equally eating into Ibori’s fortunes. Ibori had been entangled in legal battles with the authorities in Nigeria, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and United Kingdom in the past four years.

His travails began in 2007 when he was arrested by the Nuhu Ribadu-led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In the United Kingdom, the British police accused the flamboyant former governor of stealing about N60bn (£250m or $400m) during his eight-year reign as governor from 1999 to 2007.

But the former governor was discharged and acquitted of the over 70 charges preferred against him by the EFCC before a Federal High Court in Asaba, the state’s Capital.

The former governor enjoyed a temporary reprieve before he was rearrested in Dubai on a British warrant in 2010 and then extradited.

In 2007, a UK court froze assets worth $35m allegedly belonging to him.

His wife, Nkoyo, sister, Christine Ibori-Ibie, mistress, Udoamaka Okoronkwo and London-based solicitor, Bhadresh Gohil, were all convicted of money-laundering offences in earlier trials.

Meanwhile, top officials of Delta State Government and politicians in the state have moved to London to witness tomorrow’s end of the protracted legal battle.