In the last few minutes, a Southwark Crown Court in London has sentenced James Ibori, former governor of Delta state to thirtheen years in prison on 10 counts of crime bothering on fraud and money laundering.
At the resumption of the sentencing on Tuesday, with several Nigerians inside the court room to show their support for the former Delta State governor, amongst whom was former footballer and member of the Nigerian Football federation, John Fashanu. At 11:05am the court resumed sitting with the court clerk requesting everyone within switch off all mobile devices, and not long afterwards James Ibori was brought into the court room by the bailiff.
Ibori's Counsel, Nicholas Pernell started by telling the court that Ibori was not to be blamed for the V-mobile telecommunications scam, but all the blames should be laid at the feet of Gohil, his past lawyer and the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State Victor Attah.The lawyer further went ahead to publicly declare that the former governor was responsible for supporting British industry even as far back as before he became governor, however Ibori's countenance did seem not too impressed as his gaze was constantly shifty and a scowl constantly surfaced on his face. Probably in order to impress his client, Mr. Pernell told the court house that Ibori was responsible for all the development in Nigeria, including the banking reforms to Attention of Low-cost houses and the shaky peace that currently exists in the Niger Delta today.
To support his assertions of Ibori's meek nature, Pernell called upon Fashanu to tell the court of this good side of Ibori seldom seen and reported. Fashanu duly proceeded to informing the court that Ibori build the first shooting range in the country. He also added that he built 12 stadia across Delta state during his time as governor, thereby helping the careers of Nigerian soccer players such as Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha and current Nigerian coach, Stephen Keshi, who had long hung his playing boots before Ibori became governor. At 12:30pm, the Judge had heard enough from the defense team and called for a 2 hour recess period.
On resumption the judge pointed out that the sentence was not the end of the trial as the British legal system was also going to confiscate the properties of James Ibori in the UK.
Prosecution on Monday shockingly revealed at the sentencing of James Ibori that there was no plea-bargain but a voluntary confession of crimes committed by the accused. The sentencing of former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, commenced today with a large turnout outside the Southwark Crown Court 12. The crowd was alleged to have been rented by the Delta State government to give support to the Ibori and they were quite unruly, with a part of the crowd harrasing an official of the Nigerian High Commission just outside the court. The London Met police had to deploy 20 armed personnel to disperse and restore order. The defendant, James Ibori, clad in a black suit and a gold watch was brought into at 11:11am and he seemed in a favourable disposition waving at his family members sitted at a part of the courtroom.
The prosecutor in her closing statements described Ibori as a 'common thief' and declared that "The amount of money James Ibori stole is unquantified". She went through a list of the crimes committed by Ibori in the UK and Nigeria, dating as far back as 1991. She went ahead to list the several bank accounts held by the defendant including 6 in Barclays, 2 in Citi Bank and several othersin the Channel Island, accusing Ibori of listing his 4-month old baby as a director in one of the companies he allegedly used to defraud the oil-rich Delta State.
The lead prosecutor also accused Ibori of colluding with another former governor, Victor Attah of Akwa Ibom State, of forming a phantom company called ADF which they used in siphoning over US$37 million from Akwa-Ibom and Delta State's shares in V-Mobile Telecommunications. Astonishingly, the prosecutor told the court that there was no plea bargain but a honest and voluntary admission of guilt by James Ibori.
Counsel for the defendant, Nicholas Pernell, agreed with the submission of the prosecution that Indeed the amount siphoned in the V-mobile and Bombardaire scams amounted to over $50million, but rather pointed out that the Nigerian Military was responsible for creating conditions that encouraged Ibori to perpetuate the corruption crimes he was accused of.
Pernell urged the court to temper justice with mercy, and in an attempt to show the soft side of Ibori, he declared that the former governor was responsible for gaining freedom for several hostages held in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria.
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