Court acquits Ibori of corruption charges

A Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State, Thursday discharged and acquitted the former Delta State governor James Ibori of all 170 charges of corruption brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The case, which had dragged on for two years with the judgement date postponed no less than three times, has been finally rested by the trial judge, Marcel Awokulehin.

The judge threw out all the charges against Mr. Ibori on the ground that there was no clear evidence against the former governor.

Mr. Awokulehin said trying to prove the crime of money laundering, from the transfer of money alone, is "unnecessary and inappropriate." He said those who drafted the EFCC act could have criminalised every money transfer, if they wanted all transfers to be criminal acts.

Also, on the charge that money was paid into Mr. Ibori's personal account at Guarantee Trust Bank, the judge noted that since no Delta State official or any bank official was quizzed over this, no crime was shown to have been committed.

The prosecutors, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it was appealing the judgement.

Rape of justice

The EFCC spokesperson, Femi Babafemi described the decision of the court as "hazy".

"We are convinced that this judgement cannot stand, especially at this critical time in our nation's history when the judiciary is being hailed for rising to the challenge of delivering fearless judgements against the corrupt in our society," he said.

Mr. Babafemi said the anti-graft agency has instructed its lawyers to immediately initiate an appeal against yesterday's judgement.

"This kind of judgement, if not challenged, is capable of deepening the menace of corruption in our country rather than contributing in any way to the cause of justice.''

A human rights group, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), which has been in the forefront of the campaign to see that justice was done in the Ibori case, has also reacted to the ruling of the court.

Debo Adeniran, the group's Executive Chairman, said the ruling did not come as a surprise. According to Mr. Adeniran, "the signs that justice will be raped in the case include the moving of the case from the Federal High Court in Kaduna to Asaba; the diplomatic move to rid Mr. Ibori of the money laundering case against him in England; and the acceptance of buildings to house the Asaba Division of the Federal High Court and its judges from those he termed "accomplices" of Mr. Ibori.

Ibori is thankful

However, reacting to the court's decision in his favour, Mr. Ibori said he was thankful to God. He also expressed his gratitude to the Judiciary, saying: "I am indeed very pleased that justice has been done, and that justice, that very foundation of our democracy, is there for everyone and not only for the poor."

With the judgement, all eyes would now be on the money laundering case brought against Mr. Ibori and some of his associates by the Metropolitan Police that is being heard at the Southwark County Court, London.