Ex-Governor of Delta state James Ibori on Wednesday filed an appeal against his conviction in United Kingdom, alleging corruption in the ranks of British police.

Ibori was released from a jail in December 2016 after serving half of his 13-year sentence, as is normal in Britain.

The former governor had pleaded guilty to laundering a stolen fortune in Britain.

He returned to Nigeria in February 2017.

The British authorities intend to confiscate Ibori’s about 90 million pounds ($130 million) assets, which have since been frozen.

The appeal hearing, being held before three judges at London’s Court of Appeal, is due to last three days. </s> James Ibori, a Nigerian politician who spent years in UK jails after pleading guilty to laundering a stolen fortune in Britain, launched an appeal against his conviction on Wednesday, alleging corruption in the ranks of British police.

Ibori hopes to regain control of assets worth 90 million pounds ($130 million), which have been frozen for years. The British authorities aim to confiscate them and return them to the Nigerian state.

As governor of oil-producing Delta State from 1999 to 2007, Ibori became one of Nigeria’s most powerful men and enjoyed a millionaire lifestyle, with properties and luxury cars in several countries. At the time of his arrest he was in the process of buying a $20 million private jet.

His conviction in 2012, after he admitted 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering, was a rare example of a big player in Nigerian politics being held to account for the corruption that has blighted Africa’s most populous nation.

But Ibori’s lawyers allege that one of the British police officers who investigated him took bribes in 2007 from a private detective, hired by a British law firm working for Ibori, in return for inside information about the police investigation.

They also allege that British anti-corruption police who were supposed to investigate the alleged bribery instead covered it up to avoid scuppering Ibori’s trial and tarnishing the reputation of the police.

All the people against whom allegations of corruption or bad faith have been made have denied them.

The appeal hearing, being held before three judges at London’s Court of Appeal, is due to last three days.

Ibori was released from jail in December 2016 after serving half of his 13-year sentence, as is normal in Britain, and he returned to Nigeria in February 2017. He has re-emerged in public life there and been feted at various events.

Saturday's Thanksgiving and grand reception for Mr. James Ibori, the former Delta State governor convicted for money laundering, SaharaReporters has learned, cost the government of Delta State N250 million.

READ MORE: https://t.co/s78h2Ai96t pic.twitter.com/HgAvRPLaIZ — Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) March 12, 2018

He was due to give evidence on Wednesday via video-link from Nigeria, and he appeared briefly on a screen in court, but the connection was lost and could not be restored. The court was told a power cut in Nigeria was the reason for the glitch.

Despite being a major oil and gas producer, Nigeria has daily electricity cuts – a result of decades of corruption and mismanagement in the power sector.

The judges instructed that a new attempt be made to establish a video-link to Ibori on Thursday.

REUTERS </s> A former governor of Delta state, James Ibori, who spent years in UK prison after pleading guilty to money laundering in Britain, yesterday launched an appeal against his conviction, alleging corruption in the ranks of British police.

According to Ibori’s lawyers, one of the British police officers who investigated him took bribes in 2007 from a private detective, hired by a law firm working for Ibori, in return for inside information about the police investigation.

They also alleged that British anti-corruption police who were supposed to investigate the alleged bribery instead covered it up to avoid weakening Ibori’s trial and tarnishing the reputation of the police.

The appeal hearing currently being held before three judges at London’s Court of Appeal, is due to last three days.

Ibori was due to give evidence on Wednesday via video-link from Nigeria, and he appeared briefly on a screen in court, but the connection was lost and could not be restored. The court was told a power cut in Nigeria was the reason for the glitch.

The judges instructed that a new attempt be made to establish a video-link to Ibori on Thursday.

NigerianEye reports that about $130 million of Ibori’s assets are at stake, which have been frozen for years. </s> According to Jersey's Civil Asset Recovery Fund, the laundered funds recovered from confiscated assets, belonging to the son of the late dictator, Mohammed Abacha was "derived from corruption," during the military leader's rule in Nigeria.

The money was found in a Channel Islands account held by shell company Doraville Properties Corporation.

It had been frozen by a federal court in Washington in 2014 at the request of prosecutors pursuing criminal proceedings against Mohammed Abacha and his associates.

The stolen funds have now been recovered and paid into a special recovery fund after a five-year legal battle, and it will be shared between the Nigerian government, Jersey and the US government, according to Jersey authorities overseeing the case.

Robert MacRae, Jersey's Attorney-General Attorney said in a statement that freezing the assets demonstrated Jersey's "commitment to tackling international financial crime and money laundering." CNN contacted Abacha's son for comments over the allegations but has yet to receive a response. Abacha came into power in 1993 and ruled Nigeria with an iron grip until his death in 1998. Activists who criticized his regime were imprisoned for months, with some put to death. Opposition leaders were also jailed under his leadership. Abacha's regime came under fierce international criticism when he executed popular playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists, who came to be known as the Ogoni 9. The men were charged with murdering four men and were convicted and sentenced to death at a special tribunal. Throughout, Saro-Wiwa maintained that he was being framed for criticizing Abacha's regime. The former president lived a lavish lifestyle is reported to have stolen over $4 billion during his five years in office through his family and allies. In 2017, the Swiss government reclaimed funds of $321 million from Abacha's family and has recovered around $700 million of Abacha-related assets till date. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in a recent interview said his government has also recovered some of the country's stolen wealth stashed by corrupt politicians in banks abroad. He, however, said prosecutors have faced challenges that have slowed down the recovery process. Nigeria lost $400 billion to corruption between 1960 and 1999, according to estimates cited by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). </s> The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has assured the people of Edo and Nigerians that his administration is on top of the security situation in the state.

Obaseki gave the assurance after an emergency meeting with security agencies in the state at the Government House in Benin city.

The Governor condemned the gruesome killings of three police officers and the abduction of the Chief Executive of Ogba Zoological Garden and Nature Park, Mr. Andy Osa Enahire, on Sunday in Benin City.

He said, “Our hearts are with the families of the slain police officers and we promise to deploy all the resources at our disposal to ensure Mr Ehanire returns to his family in the shortest time possible, and unhurt.”

“When the Edo State Government received intelligence report on the kidnap of Mr. Osa Ehanire, we immediately contacted the relevant security agencies to do all within their powers to secure his release,” he added.

Obaseki also explained that Ehanire, who is a well-known tourism practitioner in Nigeria, was scheduled to play a major role in the planned hosting of the 2017 edition of the World Tourism Day celebrations scheduled for Wednesday September 27, 2017 by the state government. </s> • Lack of preparation by Justice Ngwuta stalls his trial

Davidson Iriekpen in Lagos and Alexander Enumah in Abuja

The embattled judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, got a rude shock wednesday when operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) knocked on her door at about 5 a.m. to conduct a fresh search of her residence.

It was gathered that the operatives who arrived in large numbers, surrounded the house at No. 18B Lai Ajayi Bembe Street, Park View Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

This is coming eight days after a court had asked the anti-corruption agency to be professional in performing its duties.

Wondering why EFCC conducted the surprise raid on the home of a person who had already been arraigned in court, one of her lawyers described the search as “unlawful and an abuse of human rights”.

The EFCC had arraigned Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia alongside Mr. Godwin Obla, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on November 28, before Justice Hakeem Oshodi of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, on a 30-count charge bordering on conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, offering gratification to a public official, and unlawful enrichment by a public official, among others.

Ofili-Ajumogobia and Obla were in EFCC detention for about two weeks before they were arraigned.

 The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Thereafter, counsel to Ofili-Ajumogobia, Mr. Wale Akoni (SAN), and counsel to Obla, Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), moved applications for them to be granted bail.

They were granted bail in the sum of N20 million and on self-recognition.

 The next day, a court threw out Ofili-Ajumogobia’s fundamental rights suit, and urged EFCC to be professional in its conduct.

Justice Muslim Sule Hassan of the Federal High Court in Lagos had lashed out at EFCC over the way and manner it carried out its probe of Ofili-Ajumogobia, while delivering judgment in the N50 million fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by her against the anti-graft agency over her prolonged detention.

In another corruption-related suit against a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, his trial was stalled yesterday, following claims by the defendant that he was not fully prepared for his trial.

 Ngwuta is being prosecuted by the federal government on a 16-count charge for corruption, money laundering and other financial crimes.

He has however pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted bail on self-recognition.

 Trial judge, Justice John Tsoho of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, delivering ruling on the bail application had fixed yesterday for the commencement of the trial.

But when the matter was called, lead counsel to the defendant, Mr. Kanu Agabi (SAN), told the court that even though his team was anxious to prove the innocence of their client, they were not fully prepared to commence the trial as scheduled.

Citing relevant portions of the constitution and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), Agabi asked the court for an adjournment in the interest of justice to enable his client prepare adequately for his defence.

 The counsel also requested the court to order the prosecution to upload all documents it intends to use in the trial, so that the defence could be fully prepared.

Responding, prosecution counsel, Charles Philips-Adeogun expressed surprise over the position of the defence, recalling that on the last adjournment it was the consensus of both parties that the trial would commence wednesday.

He drew the court’s attention to Section 396(3) of the ACJA that provides for the day-to-day trial upon arraignment.

While objecting to the application for adjournment by the defence, Philips-Adeogun also submitted that there was no document to avail the defence, as all documents to prosecute the trial had already been uploaded to the defence.

 He told the court that if the matter was adjourned, it would be a huge inconvenience for the prosecution, adding that he and his colleague are based outside Abuja, including the three witnesses they had planned to call to testify in the matter.

He suggested that in the alternative, the court should allow the prosecution to open its case while the defence could choose to do its cross-examination at the next adjourned date.

Delivering ruling on the application, Justice Tsoho, who held that Section 36 of the Constitution provides that a defendant be given adequate time to prepare for his defence, however, noted that that same section of the constitution covers a wide scope to include both the emotional and psychological disposition of the defendant.

 He noted that no reasonable person would have a criminal charge hanging over his head and would not be anxious to clear himself.

He said granting the application would enable the defendant have a settled disposition for the trial.

 Tsoho also stated that while Section 396(4) of the ACJA allows for five adjournments by the defendant, he was just making use of the first one.

The judge consequently granted the application and adjourned till January 18 and 23, 2017 for trial to commence.

 Justice Ngwuta was one of seven judges whose homes were raided by the Department of State Services (DSS) last October on allegations of corruption. </s> These are the top five Nigerian stories that conversation today.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday insisted that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has been a failure.

He spoke at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, while playing host to the New Nigeria 2019 Group, led by the convener, Chima Anyaso, in company with Moses Siasia.

“As I said, stop giving excuses; we met challenges. If there are no challenges, then we wouldn’t need you to come. You come in because you know there are challenges and then giving us an excuse that you have many challenges; that is why you haven’t achieved results.”

The police have arrested six persons for allegedly aiding the escape of six suspects from police custody in Division ‘A’ Lokoja, Kogi State, last week Wednesday.

They include John Beneche, 22, Seye Atowoju, 27, Danjuma Yunusa, 35, Egga Ochai, 50, Abbas Haruna, 30, and Gloria Audu, 28, sister to Emmanuel, one of the re-arrested prime suspects in Senator Dino Melaye’s arms case.

The force in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja by its spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, explained that the six suspects played criminal roles in the escape of Kabiru Seidu (aka Osama), Nuhu Salisu (aka Small), Aliyu Isa, Adams Suleiman, Emmanuel Audu and Musa Mohammed.

Some gunmen on Tuesday invaded the police station at Gegu village on Lokoja–Abuja road, killing two of the policemen on duty.

William Aya, spokesman of the Kogi state police command confirmed this.

“It is true that there was an attack today. We lost two officers,” he said.

He said the gunmen also injured one of the suspects in the cell.

Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state, walked into the presidential villa in Abuja on Tuesday on crutches.

The governor was involved in an accident during the Easter holiday.

Kingsley Fanwo, spokesman of the governor, had earlier issued a statement to deny that his principal’s condition was critical.

“We wish to refute speculations in some quarters that the Governor of Kogi State, His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, is either hospitalised or otherwise incapacitated,” the statement read.

Festus Keyamo, Lagos lawyer, has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of committing same act he is tackling President Muhammadu Buhari for.

He said Obasanjo “kept blaming” the military for his “abysmal” performance while in office.

Writing via his Twitter handle on Tuesday, Keyamo said — just like Buhari — the former president had asked Nigerians to be patient with his government.

He wrote: “Let’s remember that during the first four years of Obasanjo (1999-2003), he kept blaming the ‘rot’ the military left behind as the reason for his abysmal performance and begged Nigerians to be patient with him, to the extent that he reportedly knelt down for Atiku Abubakar (his then vice-president) then to get his second-term ticket.”

And now, stories from around the world…

The Duke of Edinburgh has been admitted to hospital in central London for planned surgery on his hip, Buckingham Palace has said.

The surgery will take place on Wednesday at the King Edward VII Hospital in Marylebone.

The duke did not attend the Easter service at Windsor Castle on Sunday, with his absence said to have been because of a hip problem.

France’s rail network has been severely disrupted, as a wave of strikes against President Emmanuel Macron’s labour reforms gets under way.

The start of the strike has been dubbed “Black Tuesday”, but the action will spread over three months, affecting two days in every five.

Staff at state railway SNCF are leading the strike, but the energy and waste collection sectors are also affected.

The unrest presents Mr Macron’s biggest challenge since his election last May.

The first person has been jailed as part of the FBI inquiry into alleged collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign team and Russia.

Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, 33, was sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators about contacts with ex-Trump aide Rick Gates.

Van der Zwaan is the son-in-law of one of Russia’s richest men and was the 19th person to be charged by special counsel Robert Mueller.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he’s calling on the military to guard the US-Mexico border until his long-promised border wall is complete.

“I told Mexico, and I respect what they did, I said, look, your laws are very powerful, your laws are very strong. We have very bad laws for our border and we are going to be doing some things, I spoke with (Defense Secretary James) Mattis, we’re going to do some things militarily. Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military. That’s a big step,” he said during a luncheon with leaders of the Baltic states.

He continued: “We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and by the way never showing up for court.”

China says it will respond to any new trade tariffs by the United States with measures of the same scale and intensity.

The warning from China’s ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, came after Beijing slapped tariffs on $3 billion worth of US exports including fruit, pork and steel pipes.

Those measures were in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum from China and other countries. But Trump has also announced plans to impose tariffs on about $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. </s> A court in Milan is considering charges of corruption against Eni and Shell in a controversial oil deal that led to Nigeria losing an estimated $6bn.

The campaign group Global Witness has calculated the OPL 245 deal in 2011 deprived Nigeria of double its annual education and healthcare budget.

Eni and Shell are accused of knowing the money they paid to Nigeria would be used for bribes.

The Italian and Anglo-Dutch energy giants deny any wrongdoing.

This unfolding scandal, which is being played out in an Italian court, has involved former MI6 officers, the FBI, a former President of Nigeria, as well as current and former senior executives at the two oil companies.

The former Nigerian oil minister, Dan Etete, was found guilty by a court in France of money laundering and it emerged he used illicit funds to buy a speed boat and a chateau. It is also claimed he had so much cash in $100 bills that it weighed five tonnes.

Global Witness has spent years investigating the deal which gave Shell and Eni the rights to explore OPL 245, an offshore oil field in the Niger Delta. </s> Nigeria's president on Wednesday suspended the country's intelligence chief over the recent discovery of $43 million in cash in a Lagos apartment.

 

 President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered an investigation into how the National Intelligence Agency came to claim the money and whether any laws were broken, a government statement said.

 

 The discovery of the cash in both local and foreign currencies by the country's anti-corruption commission caused a sensation in this West African nation where graft is rampant.

 

 Buhari has ordered the suspension of the director-general of the intelligence agency, Ambassador Ayo Oke, until the investigation is complete, the statement said.

 

 The investigation has been given two weeks to report to the president.

 

 Separately, Buhari has ordered an investigation into alleged wrongdoing in the award of contracts under the government office that coordinates the humanitarian response in Nigeria's northeast, which for years has suffered from the Boko Haram Islamic insurgency.

 

 The secretary to the federal government, David Babachir Lawal, has been suspended pending that investigation, the statement said.

 

 Buhari won election in 2015 on a promise to halt corruption.
James Ibori, a former governor of Delta State, Nigeria, launches a bid to overturn his guilty pleas on corruption charges in the UK alleging police corruption.