Born August 4, 1958, James Ibori’s political career began in 1990 when he joined the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC). In 1999, he won election as governor of Delta State on the platform of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and left office 2007 after two terms in office.
Since leaving office, he has had many corruption charges slammed on him over the years. Due to corruption allegations, a court in the United Kingdom froze his assets there, valued at about 17 million pounds ($35 million), in early August 2007.
His wife, Nkoyo, was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London on November 1, 2007, in connection with the probe of his assets, particularly in the United Kingdom. She was released after being questioned. On December 12, 2007, Ibori was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at Kwara State Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja. The charges he faces include theft of public funds, abuse of office, and money laundering.
These charges brought against him by the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo are among many others started by Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman of EFCC against former officials of the PDP. Ribadu additionally alleged that Ibori attempted to bribe him to drop the charges with a cash gift of $15 million, which he (Ribadu) immediately lodged in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the cash remains in the CBN as an exhibit, according to reports.
James Ibori
On December 17, 2009, the Federal High Court, Asaba, Delta State, discharged and acquitted him of all 170 charges of corruption brought against him by the EFCC. With this judgment, all eyes are now on the outcome of the money laundering case brought against some of his associates by the crown prosecution service at the Southwark Crown Court, London, and the basis of their allegations as he was acquitted of the entire 170 charges leveled against him on charges, which would have been a foundation for such a case in the United Kingdom.
The EFCC filed a notice of appeal against the December 17, 2009 judgment and began a new round of investigations on the former governor following a petition by members of the Delta State Elders Forum, which was made available to the public in March 2010.
In April 2010, Ibori’s case file was reopened. A new allegation that he embezzled N40 billion ($266 million) was slammed against him, and attempts to arrest him have yielded no fruits. It was reported that he fled Abuja to Lagos, and then to the creeks of Oghara, his homeland in the Niger Delta. It was further reported that he was being guarded by armed militias who once had a shoot out with government security forces. He claimed that the charges were frivolous and that he was a victim of political persecution.
On Sunday, April 25, 2010, there were reports that he had fled the country to evade arrest. The head of media and publicity of the EFCC, Femi Babafemi, confirmed that the Commission was in possession of an intelligence report that Ibori had fled Nigeria and added that the assistance of Interpol might be sought to effect his arrest once his location was established. The effort of EFCC paid off on Wednesday when Interpol arrested the former governor turned fugitive in Dubai.
On the legal issues that Ibori have to contend with in the next few days and possibily months EFCC chairman, Farida Waziri said: “We have a case against him in the appeal court Benin, the 170 count charges. We appealed, the case came up and he was not there. Two, we have fresh charges for which we want to arraign him totally different from the earlier charges. There are other charges against him which we don’t want to reveal for now. As I told you, we have been working very closely but quietly with the Met police. We have other issues which we don’t want to go into.”