British chief prosecutor says Nigeria jeopardising graft probe: report

LONDON (AFP) — Britain's chief prosecutor has accused Nigeria of jeopardising a corruption investigation into a former governor whose assets are the subject of litigation in London, the Financial Times said Wednesday.

The business daily reported that it had seen a copy of a letter sent by the Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald to Nigerian Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa, saying that the failure of Nigerian authorities to supply evidence had led to "major difficulties" in the inquiry into James Ibori.

Ibori, governor of oil-rich Delta state from 1999 to 2007, has been under investigation by the British police following the discovery of assets suspected to have been acquired with money stolen from Nigeria during his tenure.

"The difficulty and lack of progress in obtaining hard evidence from Nigeria is causing major difficulties in relation to the court proceedings in the United Kingdom and putting these other cases in jeopardy," Macdonald wrote in his letter dated October 2, the FT said.

The report comes after Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua approved a request by British police to visit the country to investigate Ibori.

According to the FT, Macdonald asked Aondoakaa to ensure that the requested evidence be made available to the officers.

Nigeria's anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), announced last year that about 15 of the 36 former state governors were under investigation, with five so far being charged.

 

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Nigeria official's $35m refrozen

Mr Ibori's assets are said to include a jet and London property

The London High Court has ordered the refreezing of former Nigerian governor James Ibori's $35m (£17m) assets that police think are the proceeds of crime.

The assets, believed to include a Bombardier private jet, were the subject of a restraint order in August.

It was lifted last week thanks in part to a letter from Nigeria's attorney general saying Mr Ibori had not been "charged, tried or convicted".

But now Mr Ibori cannot use his assets while the police make their case.

He is one of several former Nigerian state governors who remain wanted for questioning in London on money-laundering charges.

Setbacks

It was in August this year that London's Metropolitan Police Service first obtained a freeze on the former Delta State governor's worldwide assets under Britain's Proceeds of Crime Act.

The $35m is said to include a Bombardier private jet and property in London as well as money in bank accounts.

The law permits police in Britain to apply for suspect monies to be frozen in the pre-trial stage of a criminal investigation.

Mr Ibori's London-based lawyers, Speechly Bircham, obtained a letter from Nigerian Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa stating that Mr Ibori had been investigated but not charged, tried or convicted in Nigeria "relating to money laundering or any other offences".

This helped persuade Judge Goymer of Southwark Crown Court that there was insufficient proof the assets were the proceeds of crime and he vacated the August order last week.

But the Met told the BBC News website that they have been granted leave to appeal against Judge Goymer's ruling.

"Leave to appeal the discharge was granted at the High Court on Monday 8 October, and pending a full appeal by the Crown the Application of Restraint has been reinstated," a Met spokesman said.

No date has been set for that appeal hearing, so in effect there is no time limit imposed on the police who confirm that the investigation by their Police Proceeds of Corruption Unit into Mr Ibori's affairs continues.

Nigeria's war on corruption

A series of recent setbacks into corruption investigations have led several commentators to question newly elected Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's commitment to tackling grand corruption as well as the actions and motives of his attorney general.

Another former governor wanted for questioning in London is Joshua Dariye of Plateau State.

In May this year the Nigerian government obtained a judgement granting them the $850,000 proceeds from the sale of a London property he owned, and in June they also obtained a judgement in their favour of the $5.7m (including accumulated interest) seized from Mr Dariye's UK bank accounts.

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 10.10.2007 07:30

el_pharoah  Villager

# 2 Isn't it interesting that we are now also defering to foreigners to fight our corruption war? Since we won't do it ourself the British have taken it upon themselves to do it for us, sad indeed. From building roads, providing electricity to even farming we depend on foreigners to hold our hands. When will we grow up as a country? Posted by el_pharoah| 10.10.2007 07:46

okenikpoto  Villager

# 3 It is a shame to Yar Adua to be subjected to this kind of request from the British authorities. For the AGF-with-a-mission-to-save-Ibori, his action is enough to make him lose his job disgracefully. Yar Adua is now beibg rubbished when he is fighting to look credible in the eyes of govts in the world. This is a serious blow on him and to EFCC, this is a vindication. Shame to the AGF, shame to Ibori, Orji Uzor, Nnamani, Odili and whoever stole our money. May you rot in jail; thats if the AGF will not come out with another letter. Posted by okenikpoto| 10.10.2007 08:29

Profegee  Villager

# 4 Ibori case is the first litmus test on Yar'Adua's zero tolerance for corruption. It's no longer news that Ibori and "Bukky" Saraki are the intelligence wizard that masterminded the selection and footed greater portion of Yar'Adua's campaign. We shall see what becomes of the servant-leader. Posted by Profegee| 10.10.2007 08:40

ajis15  Villager

# 5 It is now clear that an illegitimate govt cannot fight corruption. Yardua has too many political IOUs to settle. It is sad that a single person will sit on asset worth more that N15 billion in a country where people live in abject poverty, and the same man can walk the street freely. It is sad. On a second note, is Yaradua waiting until all the legal challenges against his mandate are cleared before asserting himself? Could that be? I still did not believe this is the same Yardua that declared his assets and promise to fight corruption. Posted by ajis15| 10.10.2007 09:59

JAGA-JAGA  Villager

# 6 =okenikpoto;209176879>It is a shame to Yar Adua to be subjected to this kind of request from the British authorities. For the AGF-with-a-mission-to-save-Ibori, his action is enough to make him lose his job disgracefully. Yar Adua is now beibg rubbished when he is fighting to look credible in the eyes of govts in the world. This is a serious blow on him and to EFCC, this is a vindication. Shame to the AGF, shame to Ibori, Orji Uzor, Nnamani, Odili and whoever stole our money. May you rot in jail; thats if the AGF will not come out with another letter. okenikpoto, I know how passionate you feel about this corruption war. One first thing you should know is that UMYA won't be able to address this anti-corrution war properly, even on a limited scale. Nigerians need to take the bull by the horn and revolt against these fake leaders called politicians who have been milking this country since independence. The above strategy is only what is left in the armory of every true Nigerian who believes that corruption is bad. Hear what Alhaji Balarabe Musa, the former governor of old Kaduna state and Leader of PRP and current Chairman of CNPP said in a recent interview with TheNews, "Unfortunately, what some reactionary intellectuals said about Nigeria is true. I could remember during the First Republic they said that every Nigerian has a price; you can get what you want from him only when the price is right. This is a very bad reflection of the political leadership in Nigeria." You can now see that Balarabe Musa knew this from the first republic and that's why he can never trust this type of government to fight a successful anti-corruption battle. Posted by JAGA-JAGA| 10.10.2007 11:26

ezyvic  Villager

# 7 Without being pre-judicial, what can NVS members collectively do to keep the war on corruption a central focus of Yar'Adua's administration. I belong to the group that believes that illegitimacy cannot thrive or produce legitimacy, in other words, a government that was borne out of a selectively corrupt and unacceptably imposed doctrine. Ibori is one of those that bank rolled Yar'Adua selection via massive rigging, which obviously would also influence Yar'Adua's moral obligation of ensuring that Ibori is not sent to jail. It is time we start displaying pictures of looters alongside the damages corruption has on the larger society, in a cause and effect pattern. http://www.imoonline.org/poverty.htm, this website tried it out and I was quite impressed with the new concept to the anti-corruption war. The British government is not sending out a message or trying to help us fix our nation, what they are trying to do is simple- get to the root of the problem and end mass migration of Nigerians to the UK, period. They dont love us more than the did some 47 years ago when we were granted independence. Rather, a look at the situation in the Canary Islands and Spain show the desperation with which people want to get out of the corruption induced poverty terrain. Stolen funds were seen as direct individual investments by this same people some years back, and they protected such funds without considering the long term effect. Today, the British government is singing a different tune. I will sit back and see how the tales unfold- will Ibori be repatriated to face charges of money laundering in the UK? or the AG attempt to obey 'the rule of law' and protect him using government tools? Time will tell. Posted by ezyvic| 10.10.2007 11:29

dele26  Villager

# 8 =ezyvic;209176948>Without being pre-judicial, what can NVS members collectively do to keep the war on corruption a central focus of Yar'Adua's administration. . ezyvic, My Oduaa people will say ‘Oju boro ko gbomo lowo ekuro’ Kid gloves can not crack a palm kernel. Nigeria and its populace are gone too far for NVS effort to yield any positive result against corruption. Biko, sing another song. Posted by dele26| 10.10.2007 12:29

toksyleigh  Villager

# 9 Now my eyes don open well, well. You see, the former President Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo is a very typical smart and cunning Nigerian. I believe he knows that all the aspirants to the Aso Rock villa are rogues, thieves and hypocrites like him. He then decides, in his infinite wisdom that he will rig the elections and install the most incompetent rogue and just plain daft of them all in Aso Rock hence, I present to you our President, Umaru Yaradua. This way, we would consider him a self ascribed savior he wanted to be known as since the beginning of time; or how else can you describe what is going with this President? please tell me if you know, I am really shocked and stupified right now. Wow! my eyes don open werry well now. God Help us all. Goriola Abamieda Jnr. Posted by toksyleigh| 10.10.2007 12:45

ikechukwu  Villager

# 10 Yaradua is a smart president, use Ibori's delta money to rig election under the supervision of obasanjo and EFCC who refused Ibori's investigation even with delta elders' strong petition. Make sure Ibori's cousin(his co conspirator) is sitting pretty as delta state governor, create complications in anything concerning Ibori and claim your innocent while only showing Andooka who receives orders from you. This is a smart move I must confess from the self confessed anti corruption crusader president. May we please clap for the only man elected in Nigeria with 80% national votes in a country that believes thieves can fight corruption. Posted by ikechukwu| 10.10.2007 12:48

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