Former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, affirmed on Thursday that he cannot be intimidated despite the latest scheme by political adversaries to manipulate the media to settle scores against him.
This time, he said, they have wrongly assumed that a power contest is on in Abuja, whereas the Presidency is united and strong, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in charge.
“I will not succumb to cheap blackmail in any guise, and I will not also be intimidated by any bullying tactics, no matter how highly placed the source and how many international collaborators are at their disposal,” Ibori said in a statement he issued through his Media Aide, Tony Eluemunor.
Ibori vowed that no amount of lies against him and “spurious publications” will make him abandon his political beliefs and leanings.
He condemned the front page story in the Nigerian Tribune on March 3, titled, ‘UK moves for Ibori’s extradition,’ as baseless, politically motivated, and the figment of someone’s imagination.
“Extradition of anyone is warranted only after a case has been instituted in court and the accused has refused to appear in court, but instead has fled the country where the alleged crime was committed,” Ibori reiterated.
He maintained that he faces no criminal charge in any law court in the United Kingdom, and none of his associates has been charged with any concrete crime which could necessitate extradition.
Instead, he added, going by the ruling of the London Court of Appeal in February, “The Crown has been compelled to go down the so-called Anwoir route, relying very little on evidence from Nigeria, but on inferences the Crown says is to be drawn from the circumstances in which the property was handled.”
He wondered how the Nigerian Tribune “and the sponsors of that hatchet story” would get the UK authorities to request anyone’s extradition on a case being prosecuted on circumstantial evidence – involving asking a suspect to explain the source of the money he used for certain purchases?
“That is exactly what the 2008 R v Anwoir case implies; about a man in whose briefcase was found $1 million as he entered the UK – and he could not explain its source.
“The UK prosecution argued that since he was unable to explain the source of the money that the proper inference was that the funds were the proceeds of crime, and won.
“Now, the London police say they would use the same analogy against Ibori’s associates. They claim that Ibori had no other source of income except his salary as Governor of Delta State from 1999 to 2007, and that such money was not enough to purchase the assets.”
Ibori insisted that the UK charges against the ladies are political, and “they are political hostages of Nigeria’s political cabal of yesterday and their foreign collaborators.”
He cited his earlier newspaper advertisements that derided the claims of former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, on which the London case hangs.
“Ribadu should know that before I became Governor, my collective wealth was substantial.
“Even the London police have admitted in their own witness statements filed in court that one of my private companies earned in excess of $5 million annually.”
“I have been the most investigated Governor in Nigeria and the EFCC and London police are in possession of my bank statements from the Bank of Austria, Merrill Lynch, Citibank (I was a CitiGold member – a club of high networth customers) and Barclays Bank before I became a Governor.”
Ibori noted that, as it is usual with police tactics all over the world, both the EFCC under Ribadu and the London police have refused to exhibit these bank statements, because they do not support the dubious “rags to riches” picture they want to paint of him.
“In fact, every politician in Nigeria knows that I contested elections in 1998 with my personal resources, with no contributions from any quarters whatsoever.
“These facts can be verified, unlike Ribadu’s tales.”
Ibori insisted that the only case against him “anywhere in the world” is the appeal the EFCC filed against the ruling of the Federal High Court, Asaba which exonerated him.
The court in Asaba also held that no corruption charge was brought against Ibori, and even in the money laundering allegations raised, no prima facie evidence of any crime was adduced.
“Yet, this newly resumed campaign of calumny has little to do with anti-corruption issues but has everything to do with politics as tension runs high in Abuja.”
He said he is confident of full legal victory in and outside Nigeria because what his adversaries have against him in the courts are political “persecutions and not (legal) prosecution,” as noted in the judgment of the Federal High Court, Kaduna.