Ibori Helped Saraki, Dogara, Others To Emerge As Leaders Of The National Assembly From Prison –Senator
A Senator, Peter Nwabaoshi, on Thursday,
claimed that a former Governor of Delta State, Mr. James Ibori, who was
released from prison in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, supported Dr.
Bukola Saraki and Mr. Yakubu Dogara to emerge as Senate President and
Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively.
James Ibori
The Southwark Crown court had, on April
17, 2012, jailed Ibori for 13 years after he pleaded guilty to 10 counts
of money laundering and stealing $50m from the Delta State treasury.
Ibori, a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, was the governor of the state between 1999 and 2007.
He was released on the order of the court on Wednesday.
According to an online medium, Sahara Reporters,
Nwabaoshi (PDP, Delta North), who spoke at the UK home of the convicted
ex-governor after his release, was boastful of how Ibori wielded
political influence despite being in the prison.
The Senator, in a 5.18 minute-long video
that went viral on Thursday, said Ibori was instrumental to the
selection of his successors in Delta State, while he also ensured that
one of his children became a member of the state’s House of Assembly.
He said, “My name is distinguished
Senator Nwabaoshi. I left Nigeria yesterday (Wednesday) because of my
boss. James Ibori is my brother, my boss and somebody I very well love.
“There are many people who have become
governors and as soon as they leave the governorship seat, nobody
remembers them again. There are many people, who have been governors and
so many people, who served under them, can’t even remember them again.
“There are many people, by the grace of
the Almighty God, who have had the opportunity to solve people’s problem
people will not even come when they have this problem. But James is a
good man; the man who made everybody and nobody made him. That is the
truth. There are many people who have been governors who did not have
the opportunity to make their successors, but James Ibori made his
successors.
“There may never be a governor in
Nigeria like this again, who will sit in the cell or prison and make a
governor; and there may never be a governor again in the history of
Nigeria who will sit in prison and make a Senator. There may never be a
governor again in the country, who will sit in a cell and support the
Senate President.
“There may never be a governor, who will
sit in a prison, and make a Speaker (of the House of Representatives),
and there may never be a governor, who will sit in a cell or prison, and
make his daughter a member of the House of Assembly.
“There may never be any Nigerian man,
who can pass through the tribulations you have passed through today and
come out and everybody will be flying.
“When I was at the airport, a security
agent came to me and said ‘I know you’re going (to the UK) because of
James Ibori.’ I said ‘I am going because of James Ibori and there is
nothing you can do to me. I have authority to travel. If you want
crisis, we will create crisis at the airport today.”
Human rights groups, others flay Deltans for celebrating Ibori
Meanwhile, some human rights
organisations in the country and individuals have condemned the wild
jubilations on the streets of Delta State on Wednesday following the
news that Ibori, who was convicted in the United Kingdom for looting the
treasury of the state, had been freed.
Residents of Oghara, the country home of
Ibori; Asaba, the state capital, and other places in the state staged
wild celebration following the release of the former governor on
Wednesday.
The Executive Chairman, Coalition
Against Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said the jubilations among
the people of Delta State demonstrated that stealing or fraud was a
tradition among them and they did not see anything wrong about it
because it was normal to them.
Adeniram said, “It is a demonstration
that crime is a cultural act in that community; it shows that anything
that has to do with stealing or theft doesn’t mean a disgraceful act to
them; it is a welcome cultural act to them and it has become their
tradition. That is what they have demonstrated; that theft is their
cultural way of life.
“In other decent communities, stealing
and theft and any other form of larceny are condemnable, a shameful act
that nobody wants to identify with.
“What I see that Ibori has become is a king in a community of thieves.”
Also, the Chairman, Civil Society
Network Against Corruption, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraj, described the response
of the Delta people as unfortunate and a demonstration of the low level
of exposure among the people.
Suraj stated, “That response is rather
unfortunate and it was unanimous in the South-South. The majority of the
people there don’t see their so-called own people as the enemies of the
progress of the region. This was not about a Nigerian court convicting
Ibori that you can say the trial was politically-motivated. He was
convicted in the international jurisdiction of stealing the resources of
the people of Delta State and Deltans are now celebrating his release.
It shows you the level of exposure of the people that are there.”
The Executive Director of the Civil
Liberties Organisation, Ibuchukwu Ezike, said the response of the people
was not surprising as Nigerians were known to celebrate even the most
shameful things.
Ezike said, “You know Nigerians are
shameless. What don’t we celebrate here? We celebrate shameful things
that nobody else would think are worthy of praise. You can imagine, a
political class that ripped Nigerians off till everyone became poor, and
whatever they steal from us, they give a small portion to the people
and then we thank them for giving us what belongs to us.
“You don’t know how many people Ibori
has put food on the table for; that he sent their children to school;
those he had given employment and all that. In Nigeria, everybody says
let us fight against corruption but whatever their person does is not a
crime.”
A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Wahab Shittu,
said, “While the rest of the country see him (Ibori) as somebody, who
has looted the treasury, his people continue to worship him as a hero
and that tells you something; that there is a distinction between
corruption and the politics of corruption and for us, who are committed
to the fight against corruption, what is playing out can be regarded as
an international shame or embarrassment.”
Also, a medical practitioner, Dr.
Edewede Iyamu, told NAN that the celebration over Ibori’s release was
uncalled for as he also contributed to the pervasively poor and
under-developed state of the Niger Delta.
“Those from the Niger Delta continue to
blame the Federal Government for the challenges confronting their
region, whereas, people like Ibori should be held responsible.
“It is sad that people from that region are now celebrating him,” she said.
Ibori is our political father, mentor, says Delta
On Thursday, however, the Delta State
Government said it had no case with a Ibori, who was jailed partly for
stealing $50m from the treasury of the state.
The state also showed happiness for the ex-governor’s release and described as a political father and mentor.
The State Commissioner for Information,
Mr. Patrick Ukah, stated this in Asaba at a briefing with newsmen on
some of the decisions at the last State Executive Council meeting for
the year.
Ukah stated, “We are all very happy that
our son, our brother, former governor has been released. So, it is a
thing of joy and the only expression as a state is that we are happy.
“I think everybody, who has a personal
relationship with him, will be very happy and I think that as a state,
we don’t have issues with our former governor and he is somebody that
everybody loves.”
A commissioner in the state, who spoke
on condition of anonymity, said the ex-governor would be hosted to a
reception when he finally returned to the country, possibly by February
next year.
“It is too early to start setting up
committee for our leader, who was only released yesterday (Wednesday).
Whatever hosting (to a reception) will be after the determination of the
case of extradition and confiscation of properties in January next
year. We will host him. He’s our political father and mentor,” he added.
One of Ibori’s classmates in secondary
school, Chief Robert Eyaufe, said the release of the ex-governor
signified a good thing to the people of Oghara Kingdom, noting that
irrespective of the belief of other people, Ibori “remains their
political messiah.”
Eyaufe also admonished politicians in
the country to stop dragging the name of the ex-governor into politics,
stating that while they awaited his home coming, Ibori would not
immediately get involved in politics on his return.
On the reported move to arraign Ibori in
Nigeria after his imprisonment in the United Kingdom, he said, “Ibori
was jailed in London for reason which I considered as political
victimisation. Now that he has been released, some evil-minded people in
Nigeria are still warming up that he should come back and face the same
charges in Nigeria.
“Any plan to try him in Nigeria amounts
to political victimisation having served a jail term for the same
offence. We will continue to celebrate him irrespective of what people
say.”
But the Minority Leader of the House of
Representatives, Mr. Leo Ogor, denied any knowledge of a planned
reception to welcome Ibori.
Ogor, a PDP member from Delta State,
said all he heard was that Ibori had been released from prison, but that
he knew nothing about a reception for him.
“There is nothing like that to my knowledge; I am not aware of any reception. Why are people placing the cart before the horse?
“Is Ibori in Nigeria? We hear he has been released but I don’t know of a reception to receive him,” said the Rep.
Leave Ibori out of politics for now, kinsman tell politicians
Barely 24 hours after Ibori was
released, a prominent indigene of Oghara Kingdom in the Ethiope West
Local Government Area of the state, Chief Ben Ibakpa, has called on
politicians in the country not to drag the ex-governor into politics.
He spoke on Thursday with one of our
correspondents in Oghara, the country home of Ibori, a day after the
community and other towns in the state witnessed wild celebration
following the release of the former governor.
Ibakpa, a former commissioner for
transport in the state, who claimed he had spoken with the convicted
ex-governor several times since his release on Wednesday, said Ibori was
not thinking of politics in the immediate future.
The ex-commissioner, a close associate
of Ibori, added that the only thing on the mind of the former governor
was to exclude himself from the public and engage in self-assessment of
the events that led him into prison.
He stated, “At the moment, he is not
thinking about politics. He wants to sit down and examine recent
activities, especially what went wrong, backstabbing and all the
betrayal he suffered in the hands of friends.
“He wants to put things into perspective
and not politics. His message has always been that his followers should
remain calm and leave everything for God. God has always taken control
of everything.
“We, his people, are begging everyone to leave him out of politics to allow him to have a rest after the victimisation.”
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