Fresh trouble for Ibori as UK court weighs 10-yr jail term, £100m seizure

Former governor of Delta State, Mr James Ibori, who abused his office to get rich and laundered millions in Britain and elsewhere, could be in the eye of the storm again as British authorities seek to confiscate 101.5 million pounds ($130 million) from him following a court order issued in London on Friday.

Southwark Crown Court, headed by Judge David Tomlinson, ordered chief Ibori to pay the above sum immediately or face an 10 year jail term.

Mr Ibori who is currently in Nigeria, though, said he would appeal against the confiscation order, which is said to be one of the biggest issued against an individual in British legal history.

The judge formally declared that Ibori had benefited from criminal conduct in the sum of 101.5 million pounds.

“I make a confiscation order in that sum because Mr Ibori has not satisfied me nor really has he tried to satisfy me that he is incapable of paying the full amount,” the judge said.

“There is no reason to allow time for the sum to be paid. I set a term of ten years’ imprisonment in default of payment.”

Ibori was governor of oil-producing Delta State from 1999 to 2007 and was extradited from Dubai to Britain in 2011.

He pleaded guilty in 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering and received a 13-year jail sentence of which he served half, as is standard.

The case was hailed as a landmark in the fight against corruption in Britain, a global money-laundering hub, and in Nigeria, where self-enrichment by the ruling elite has been one of the main factors holding back development for decades.

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