RIBADU TO APPEAR AS WITNESS IN IBORI ASSETS CONFISCATION HEARING 

 

CROWN prosecutors in the confiscation of assets hearing involving former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori, said Monday morning in London that they would call as a witness former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, concerning the $15 million bribe he was offered.

  There was, however, a moment of confusion and drama at the Southwark Crown Court, London proceedings yesterday when two female members of the public - who arrived late and couldn’t get any seat in the packed courtroom sitting about 30 people - saw that there were vacant seats in the dock and mistakenly entered there. Unknown to them, it was the dock and the former governor was meant to be there had he been present.

  Having been told that Ibori had decided to stay in his prison in Long Lartin, rather than come over to the court in London, the Judge, Anthony Pitts, looked surprised and rightly halted proceedings when he saw the two women seated in the dock.   For sure, he was the one who jailed Ibori in April 2012 and knew those in the dock couldn’t be the convicted governor.     

  Apparently unaware of what they had done, the women looked confused when the eyes of everyone in court turned in the direction of the dock, wondering what was going on and if indeed they were taking the dock in place of the jailed former governor. The judge then halted proceedings again for a couple of seconds as the court clerk explained the situation to him, before then going over to the dock and ushered the ladies to the area reserved for the solicitors - after they had been told the vacant dock was meant for Ibori or whosoever is standing trial.

  However, the mild drama and confusion didn’t distract either the Crown Prosecutors or Ibori’s defence team as they argued over whether Ibori is legally bound to be in court or not. Crown Prosecutor, Sasha Wass, was the first on her feet, as she queried why Ibori was not in court. She later told the court how the listing office had informed them - Crown Prosecutors - towards the end of last week that Ibori won’t be attending the proceedings. The Judge too was surprised and this prompted him to ask: “I wonder why he can’t be transferred to a London prison and then come to court from there every day?”

  Meanwhile, Ibori’s defence led by Ivan Krolick, argued that their client had no legal obligation to be in court, saying it is but a “confiscation of assets” hearing and as such, he has the right to stay away since his team was there looking after his case. Wass, on her part, continued her opening, seeking to know whether the decision not to attend was “Ibori’s” or that of his defence team. She then prevailed on the court that it was necessary that they get a signed letter from Ibori to clear the air on the matter. The judge then adjourned for the first time around 11.00 a.m., asking the legal teams to speak to each other on that matter and a couple of others.

  When the court reconvened at 2.00 p.m., the matter had not been resolved by the two opposing legal teams. Another bone of contention tabled before the court was that ‘to what extent has Ibori benefited from his crime’ for which he is serving a jail term. While the prosecutor argued that since Ibori voluntarily pleaded guilty before the case went to jury trial last year, he could be assumed to have benefited to the amount of his ill-gotten wealth of $50 million. However, Krolick argued to the contrary, saying that the fact that his client pleaded guilty to that amount doesn’t necessarily mean he had benefited as such. At that point, Wass insisted that the court needed to get a signed letter from Ibori to get his position on the hearing, otherwise, Ibori, could, six months down the line, make a case that the defence has misrepresented him.

  The court then adjourned for the second time and the Judge asked the clerk to contact the prison and that they should in turn get Ibori to contact his solicitor as a matter of urgency. When the court returned around 3.30 p.m., Krolick said he was still waiting to hear from his client. The judge then said the court couldn’t keep waiting for Ibori to get back to his solicitor and as such, adjourned for the day. He was optimistic that by 10.00 a.m. tomorrow - Tuesday - when the court resumes, they would have heard from Ibori.

 

Source; Guardiannewspaper