Former Delta State governor, James Onanefe Ibori.
In a desperate bid to save himself from arrest and prosecution, former Delta State governor, James Ibori, offered to surrender a huge chunk of his stolen billions to a trust fund that could finance development projects, according to a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable made available to NEXT.
The September 24, 2009 dispatch reported that Mr. Ibori, shortly before escaping to the United Arab Emirates after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission closed in on him, approached the United States embassy in Abuja for a deal that would have him give up between 20 and 50 percent of his loot in return for promises by foreign governments not to prosecute him. The former governor, the cable said, approached the embassy through a U.S. businessman and reputed lobbyist in the Washington, DC area, who estimated Mr. Ibori's stolen wealth to be about $3billion (N45 billion).
"Ibori almost certainly recognizes that foreign prosecutors are closing in on him," Robin Sanders, the former US ambassador to Nigeria, said in her dispatch. "Ibori likely knows that travel to Europe to spend his ill-gotten wealth would be risky, as authorities could detain and transfer him to the UK. He may also be concerned that the same fate could await him should he travel to the U.S."
Related convictions
As governor of his South-South state for eight years, Mr. Ibori allegedly stole N45 billion belonging to Delta State. The United Kingdom is pressing money laundering charges against him. He is now in prison in Dubai, and on the verge of being extradited to the UK for trial. Last year, British authorities convicted close associates of Mr. Ibori, including his sister Christine Ibori-Ibie; and mistress, Udoamaka Okoronkwo-Onuigbo, who were sentenced to five years each for helping him move an estimated £70 million worth of looted funds through several London banks.
Last November, his wife, Theresa Ibori, and his attorney, Bhadresh Gohil, were also convicted of money laundering charges in the UK. In his proposal to the US embassy, Mr. Ibori offered to set up a nine-member international board of directors to manage the trust fund he had suggested. Five of the directors would be Americans and Britons, with the rest being Nigerians.
"The Ibori-proposed trust fund would support development projects for electricity generation, potable water supply, and police reform," the cable explained. "Ibori would also undertake to convince other former governors currently under investigation to follow suit, and return billions of dollars in stolen money in exchange for agreements not to prosecute them."
A stillborn proposal
Although he agreed to take Mr. Ibori's message to US authorities, even the lobbyist, who told the former governor that the US considered him (Ibori) a thug and a criminal, had misgivings about the offer. The lobbyist did not believe that any government would have anything to do with such a proposal. The emissary said that although he doubted that the former governor's deal would sail through, he was confident that Mr. Ibori "will never willingly agree to serve a jail term".
The cable added, "The intermediary conceded that any proposed amnesty arrangement that enabled Ibori or any other governor to retain most of their ill-gotten funds without serving any jail time would not deter future Nigerian officeholders from doing the same".
Ms. Sanders described Mr. Ibori's offer, through the intermediary, as a "maneuver" which showed that foreign investigations and arrest warrants were restricting his ability to travel and use his ill-gotten wealth.
Mr. Ibori, who is still wanted by the EFCC, lost his appeal to stop Dubai (where he fled to to avoid arrest by the EFCC) authorities from extraditing him to the UK last December.
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