The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday declared the former governor of Delta State, James Onanefe Ibori wanted.

The commission said in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi that Mr. Ibori has been implicated in an on-going investigation into allegations of official corruption and money laundering.

“Following persistent public enquiries over the status of the case involving the former governor, we will like the public to know that James Ibori is wanted by the Commission for interrogation,” said Mr. Babafemi. “In this regard, letters of invitation have been sent to his known addresses in Lagos and Abuja while a court warrant has equally been obtained for his arrest.”

Mr Ibori has denied receiving any such letter from the anti-corruption agency. The former governor said in a statement signed by his media aide, Tony Eluemenor, that the claim that letters of invitation have been sent to his addresses in Lagos and Abuja “is a wicked lie as no such letter was ever received.” He said, “It is neither fair nor decent to criminalize our client on the pages of newspapers without any formal invitation to clear his name, which the courts have already done for him.” He went on to quote part of a petition sent to the Attorney General by Mr Ibori’s lawyer: “Take notice therefore that if there is any attempt to interfere with our client’s liberty merely because you control the coercive forces, we shall have no option but to have recourse to judicial redress before the courts which is the last hope for the defenceless man such as our client.”

New investigation

Newspaper reports show that Mr. Ibori had gone into hiding shortly after NEXT exclusively reported that a new round of investigations into his activities had been launched by the EFCC.

The latest petition against him was signed by 10 leading citizens of Delta State headed by a former minister of information, Edwin Clark. It included a demand that the former governor be probed over the alleged illegal disposal of 528 million shares of Delta State in Oceanic Bank.

The EFCC had responded by launching investigations into the allegations. A source at the commission said Mr. Ibori allegedly sold off the state’s assets to fund private investments while he was still in office.

“The search has to do with the ₦44 billion loan which he took from Intercontinental Bank. He used Delta State shares in Oceanic Bank as security for the loan. He later asked the bank to sell off the shares, over 500 million units, to repay the loan,” the source said.

Mr. Ibori’s alleged disappearance had since stalled EFCC’s investigations. Besides, Solomon Yorr, an EFCC officer in charge of Mr. Ibori’s investigation, was shot during an attack by gunmen at his residence in Keffi, Nassarawa State, last week.

Ibori’s defence

Mr Ibori, according to his media aide, asked his supporters not to panic because by yesterday, no letter inviting him for questioning from either the EFCC or any other security agency, has been received in any of his houses in Abuja or Lagos.

“EFCC knows this to be the truth that is why it did not mention the dates of those alleged invitations - because no such letters of invitation were ever sent to him,” Mr Eluemenor said.

“Ibori maintains that EFCC’s action is just political and not criminal, and it shows that the arm-twisting that defaced the final years of the last administration has been allowed back into Nigeria as the country enters an election year. Ibori’s lawyer made this clear in the petition to both the Attorney-General and the EFCC that this matter had been thoroughly investigated in the past and the case rested.”

Link:

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5554434-146/ibori_wanted____.csp