About three weeks ago, Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said that the Federal Government had received the sum of £4.2 million (about N2.4 billion) from Britain as the balance found in some accounts linked to Chief James Ibori, and that plans were on to repatriate more than £80 million of the former Delta State governor’s loot.
It would be recalled that Ibori had, during his arraignment in a British court, pleaded guilty to charges bordering on money laundering using his sister, friends and associates. He was, therefore, sentenced to 13 years jail term (but served only four years) and stripped of his loot before being released to return to a red-carpet reception in Nigeria, in December 2016.
Ibori’s travail was at the behest of a petition by the Delta State Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders Forum to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). It was, however, reported that the succeeding Delta State Government, apparently wanting to shield its erstwhile chief executive from prosecution, had refused to cooperate with the federal authorities who sought to arraign Ibori in both local and foreign courts.
Instead, the Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan administration had claimed that no cash was missing from the state’s till. Or, at least, that appeared to be the posture in Asaba until Malami’s recent bombshell as to the nature of the loot’s application, after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UK officials in Abuja, over its repatriation.
The minister had disclosed that the federal government intended to deploy the money into construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kano Highway and Second Niger Bridge. This had forced Delta State to quickly do a volte-face while insisting that the fund be returned to it, having originated therefrom. And, as would be expected, this new development had ignited heated debate among discussants across the country.
Ibori has since retired to a private life even though his invisible hand is still being felt on the chess board of Delta politics. His name is now hardly mentioned in public except with regard to his confiscated acquisitions which had since been tagged ‘Ibori Loot’, apparently in line with the Abacha Loot moniker associated with late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha.
While there may not be much argument as to the similarity between the sleazy dispositions of these two notable Nigerians, it surely will be a misapplication of justice to tag their loots alike. Yes, Abacha’s may be allowed to continue to fly since the late maximum ruler was never brought to trial before his untimely death; nor did he suffer any obvious penalty for his alleged crimes as was the case with Ibori.
In fact, the latter even suffered the additional humiliation of being practically hounded out of the country by the EFCC and later extradited from Dubai to face trial in England based on Scotland Yard’s request. So, having been punished by a court pronouncement which included asset forfeitures, it will amount to overkill if the Urhobo chief, or even his family name, is made to suffer a permanent ridicule by the continued reference to his forfeitures as Ibori Loot.
To those who cared to listen, Ibori had maintained that political opponents were behind his ordeal. The haste with which his seized assets were labelled Ibori Loot seemed to suggest that, indeed, someone had set out to deal him a lasting blow, a priori. Else, why was such name tag not pinned on the recovered hauls of the equally convicted former governors of Plateau and Taraba States, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, respectively?
Again, there were other ex-governors and high-profile Nigerians who avoided long prison terms by entering a plea bargain while still retaining the bulk of their illicit pickings. Yet, nobody cared to brand such relinquished items. Former Bayelsa State Governor, late Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; ex-Governor Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State; former Police IGP, Mr. Tafa Balogun; and Mrs. Cecilia Ibru of Oceanic Bank all belong here.
Also, even with the intermittent court-sanctioned seizures of properties belonging to former Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, nobody has opted to rub it in.
Whoever may be after Ibori is also likely to be among those arguing for his recovered loot to be used to erect landmark edifices in his native Delta State, even if such projects are to be supervised by the federal government to avoid a re-loot. A very sound argument, no doubt; but it will create objects for which the ex-governor’s name will continue to get a bad mention. And surely, no truly compassionate Nigerian will allow for this even as they are wont to condemn the greedy and ignoble adventures of some of their leaders.
Alternatively, let me suggest that government deploys the seized sum to the provision of structures that require counterpart financing from the state. For instance, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) recently announced that the sum of N41.06 billion was yet to be accessed by any of the nation’s 36 states and the FCT as at March 8, 2021. Delta State can access its share of this idle fund by deducting from the recovered loot to settle its counterpart obligation so that whatever facilities that will accrue from this effort can pass for UBEC-funded projects while veiling the additional funding source.
In fact, there is no shortage of programmes of this nature in nearly all sectors of any state. They are mostly comprised of those activities that are co-sponsored by foreign aid agencies. Examples are mobile health clinics, rural water schemes, off-grid electricity, skills training and micro-financing, among others. And these are mainly the kind of programmes that best benefit the poor and needy in society.

By: Ibelema Jumbo