Opinion: Justice for James Ibori

Posted by admin Delta, Headlines, State News Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

Wale Sokunbi (08056180228 walesokunbi2003@yahoo.co.uk)
Wednesday April 25 , 2012

Photo: The Sun Publishing
More Stories on This Section

Last week, a court in the United Kingdom did for Nigerians what our own judiciary could not do when it slammed a 13-year jailterm on former Delta State Governor, James Onanefe Ibori.

Ibori, who had been on trial for corruption since 2007 had pleaded guilty to charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering amounting to $250 million in February. His guilty plea was a volte-face because he had, for years, insisted on his innocence. An Asaba High Court had in 2009 dismissed 170-count charges of corruption against the former governor on the grounds that they lacked merit. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had refiled the case against him but Ibori, rather than await the outcome of the case, fled to Dubai from where he was extradited to Britain.

UK prosecutor, Sasha Wass, had, in the days leading to Ibori’s sentencing made mincemeal of the former governor, calling him a common thief, who stole $250 million of money belonging to Delta State and used it to fund a luxurious lifestyle, with purchase of plush properties across Britain and South Africa. Judge Anthony Pitts, who decided the case at Southwark Crown Court 9, had no reservations jailing Ibori for 13 years.

will, however, spend only about four and a half years in jail because he was only given half of the 24 year jail term he was due for because he pleaded guilty on the first day of his scheduled three-month jury trial, thereby saving the British legal system the time and huge funds that would have been used to prosecute the case against him. In addition, the two years he had already spent in detention in Dubai and the UK was deducted from his sentence.
It is good that the Ibori corruption case has, at last, come to a resolution. This is a laudable conclusion to a case that has gripped the imagination of Nigerians for many years. The whistle was first blown on Ibori’s thieving ways and his status as an ex-convict many years ago, but he did all he could to muddle up the facts and he went on to be elected governor

But then, the leopard never changes its spots. He apparently continued his stealing binge, which led to his trial and conviction and the coming to public knowledge of the details of his past convictions in the UK. His trial brought out the details of his previous convictions in UK, first for shoplifting and later, possession of stolen credit cards. He was first convicted by the Crown Court at Isleworth, for shoplifting on January 25, 1991. One year after, the Clerkenwell Magistrates Court convicted him of possession of stolen credit cards.

It is sad that such a serial convict was elected to be a state governor in Nigeria in spite of efforts of people who knew his antecedents. He did not disappoint the expectations of those who expected that, by his past records, he would steal when he is elected into office as governor. He ended up pleading guilty to stealing $250 million, with the Judge, Anthony Pitts, who delivered the judgment saying he would still be tried separately for other cases of corruption he was involved in.

It is a disgrace to Nigeria that someone who committed such heinous crime in Nigeria was only able to come to justice in Britain. This says so much about the attitude of the Nigerian legal system to corruption. What the British legal system has done for Nigerians is to tell us that corrupt public officers can always be brought to justice, if not in Nigeria, in UK and other countries that do not suffer corruption gladly.

The pattern of Ibori’s bid to escape justice is so commonplace in Nigeria. We have seen it repeated so many times with high profile political office holders, and bank CEOs who got away with ridiculously light sentences that question the seriousness of our judiciary in the battle against public corruption. This explains why the incidence of corruption is rising every day in the country. It has become pervasive.

The depth to which the country has sunk in the corruption cesspool is glaring from the sordid revelations in the fuel subsidy probe report by the House of Representatives. In the report, there is the case of an Accountant General paying out N127 billion to some companies in one single day. There is also the police pension probe report with salacious details of how billions of naira were recovered in the homes and bank accounts of public officers charged with the management of the funds.Nothing fuels this fire of corruption raging in Nigeria more than the failure to bring corrupt persons to book.

The lesson that the Nigerian judiciary should learn from the Ibori case is that corruption should always be punished to serve as a deterrent to others. The present hobnobbing between persons on trial for corruption and judges is embarrassing. It leads to unhealthy compromise and is a disgrace to our judiciary.
The era when corrupt persons are left off the hook with a slap on the wrist should be brought to an end. Luckily, the police pensions scam and the mismanagement of fuel subsidy funds provide ready cases for the Goodluck Jonathan administration to bare its fangs in the war against corruption. The era when corruption is handled with levity should come to an end. That may be the only way to send a message that public corruption will no longer be tolerated in the country.

Jonathan’s TIME Magazine award

The international newsmagazine, TIME, gave Nigerians a pleasant surprise last week when it named President Goodluck Jonathan among the 100 most influential people in 2012. This honour, actually should not come as a surprise because as a president whose word is law in a country of over 150 million people, there can be no doubting his great influence.
But, what some Nigerians may find rather odd on this honour is the citation read by Liberia’s president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. The citation said Jonathan had helped move Nigeria out of its past of corruption, mismanagement and brutality. She added that he had, in two years at the helm of affairs, demonstrated good governance qualities and “ability to find the remedies to the many complexities of running a nascent democracy.” She then concluded that Jonathan was instrumental in maintaining peace and tranquility within the West African sub region. Johnson-Sirleaf further noted that with leaders like Jonathan, Africa is sure to move towards prosperity, freedom and dignity for all its people. Nigerians say Amen.

I congratulate President Jonathan on this great honour that he is sharing with other world leaders such as American president, Barack Obama, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, Argentine and Barcelona star, Lionel Messi and British songstress, Adele.

But, I really do wish Johnson-Sirleaf had left out the aspect about Jonathan helping to maintain peace and security at a time bombs are going off and killing innocent pople by the dozens in some parts of the country. President Jonathan has certainly not found any remedy to many of the nation’s problems, especially the Boko Haram insurgency. As a matter of fact, the Nigerian authorities are yet to get a clue on how to go about solving this problem, how much less arrive at a solution. Also, the part where she talked about moving the country out of its past of corruption came at a very inauspicious moment when the cankerworm of corruption has almost eaten up the entire fabric of the nation.

With billions of naira recovered daily in the homes and bank accounts of public officers charged with administration of pension funds, and with over a trillion naira paid in the last two years to ghost importers of ghost petroleum products, this is certainly no time to be commending the government or the president for combating corruption. The praises, perhaps, should come when Nigerians and the rest of the world see what comes out the reports of the various probe panels.

Nevertheless, it is not everyday that Nigeria is in the news for something as cheering as this award. I congratulate the president and all those who contributed in one way or the other to make the award a reality. This honour should spur the president on to do greater things along the line that has been outlined by Johnson-Sirleaf. I encourage him to do everything he can to improve on these areas so that when we read such nice citations from abroad, Nigerians will not end up wondering if it is the same Nigeria we are living in that the citations are referring to. Congratulations, Jonathan. More feathers to your cap.

-Sunwp_posts