. . .The saga continues

Ibori: Nigeria, Britain set for diplomatic row
From Lanre Adewole and Oluwatoyin Malik -
Sunday, October 4, 2009

A major diplomatic row between Nigeria and Britain may be brewing over the controversial money laundering trial of former Delta State governor, James Ibori, in a Southwark Crown Court in London.

The burgeoning crisis is reportedly stoked by the refusal of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), to endorse the release of 25 witnesses from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission {EFCC} for the trial.

After establishing a prima facie case of money laundering against Ibori and three of his relatives, the British government, through the Metropolitan Police, had requested Nigeria, through the EFCC, to allow 25 operatives to testify against Ibori since the commission also investigated the former governor on the alleged offence in Nigeria.

Britain and Nigeria have mutual understanding on fight against corruption with both as signatories to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty {MLAT}, on which Britain premised its request.

After many twists and turns in the handling of the request by the office of the AGF, Sunday Tribune exclusively gathered that Aondoakaa may have finally resolved not to allow any evidence or witnesses from Nigeria to be part of the London trial, which may not survive without the evidence from the Nigerian government.

After he was accused of shielding Ibori from trial, the minister, said recently that he had no constitutional right to stop any Nigerian from testifying abroad.

He asked EFCC for a formal request for the release of the witnesses, which the commission reportedly tabled before him through its Secretary, Emmanuel Akomaye.

The initial report was that the minister had approved the request, but he came out a few days later to say that he would not cooperate with Britain over the trial because Nigeria did not owe its former colonial master such favour.

The ding-dong between him and the Met Police led to a presidential intervention with President Umaru Yar’Adua reportedly summoning Aondoakaa and the chairman of EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri.

A presidential source revealed that Aondoakaa shocked everybody present at the meeting when he reportedly told the gathering, including the president, that nothing would make him release the witnesses, despite the Nigerian leader directing him to so do.

The source said all those present at the meeting took place were dazed that the minister could look the president in the face and say no to his directive.

According to the source, “The president directed Aondoakaa to release the witnesses but he just stood up and told everybody that he would not. He was confident as he told the president that he would be his (Yar’Adua’s) protector from Western powers. Though the president is still disposed to the witnesses going to testify, the minister appeared to have had the day because even the EFCC woman left here dazed”.

Another source alleged that the minister met with Ibori at his Asokoro residence immediately after rebuffing the president, allegedly to assure him that the path to his freedom had been secured.

The Metropolitan Police and the British government, who were said to have been banking on the assurance given them by the minister when he visited the Home Office two weeks ago, were said to have been shocked with the latest turn of event, with sources, adding that they might take severe diplomatic actions on the matter.

Sunday Tribune also learnt that, though some of the documents to be used for the trial are in possession of the Metropolitan Police, they would not be admissible in court unless endorsed by the office of the AG Federation.

A source quipped, “The MLAT gives too much power to the office of the AGF on issues like this. He {AGF} knows that without him, the documents would not be admissible in court, and that is what he is using in frustrating this {Ibori’s} case”.

With the stalling of the ex-governor’s trial in London, the stage may have been set for the quashing of his trial in an Asaba High Court in Delta State on October 26, 2009.

While preparing a dress rehearsal for his final position on the release of the witnesses, Aondoakaa had told journalists in Abuja last week that “are you saying Nigeria is answerable to other countries? Are you saying that whenever any request is made by any country I have no right to review it? Such request is an indictment of the country’s security and judicial system”.

“When I requested for evidence from UK on Halliburton scandal, I was told to wait, the same thing from France and Switzerland, they are yet to comply”.

“Let me make it clear on record that every Nigerian has a constitutional right of free movement and freedom of expression and therefore, the Office of the AGF will not breach the constitution by stopping anybody from testifying before any tribunal or court in Nigeria or outside, including the UK.

“Lastly, these people are witnesses, they are not accused persons and they have a right to go anywhere to give oral testimony. “I will never prevent any Nigerian from testifying,” he said.

Reacting the Special Assistant to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Anthony Aikhunegbe Malik, refuted it, saying the AGF had already given approval to the EFCC to go ahead with the witnesses subject to the provisions under the Mutual Legal Assistant Treaty (MLAT).

“I don’t know why the issue is coming up again. I thought we had put that past us. The EFCC wrote the AGF seeking clearance on the list of witnesses to be released to testify in the UK and he has since given approval,” Mr. Malik stated.

On the issue of defying Yar’Adua’s order, the Special Assistant challenged anyone who witnessed the meeting to come out in the open. “Was the person present at the meeting? Nobody could have known what transpired during a meeting that was held by the president with the AGF, the EFCC chairman and few others because it was not made public.

“It affects elementary common sense. The AGF will not defy the president directive, he can only advise him on issues. No AGF will do that, he won’t be in government the next day. That will be primitive and the AGF knows the law.

“All these allegations are prety and are coming from his detractors, but the AGF will not be deterred neither will he relent in his efforts towards enthroning and entrenching rule of law in the country. Everything he does is predictated on the rule of law,” the aide said.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/oct/4/603.html

What a joker this guy is! He seems to be approaching 100% panic mode.
This Ibori issue will expose the FG's looting machinery. Never too soon.

SMH @ Michael Aondoakaa

I thought Ibori is a fool now i know Michael Aondoakaa is an even bigger fool.

HHHHhhhhmmmmmnnnn, speechless

I don tire for all these RUBBISH!

Beaf:

What a joker this guy is! He seems to be approaching 100% panic mode.
This Ibori issue will expose the FG's looting machinery. Never too soon.

Indeed. This FG , through its corrupt AGF , can pretend it is protecting Nigeria's sovereignty and legal dignity but even a child born yesterday know that Yar Adua is merely protecting the main financial sponsor of the fraudulent campaign that brought him to power.

I still wonder y all these un-elected idiots called politician who forced themselves into power decides to sail 9ja's ship in opposite direction.Another movie unfolds.One ship sails East,And another West,By the self-same winds that blow,it is the set of the sails,And not the gales,That tells the way we go.
Lets wait and see the outcome of dat GOAT occupying d seat of the AGF of 9ja.so bad  

''Operation Umaru Dikko'': International Dragnet targets James Ibori

Former Delta State Governor, James Ibori has unwittingly found himself in the middle of efforts by an international coalition to arrest and bring him to justice for orchestrating one of the most brazen and monumental cases of embezzlement and  theft of public funds by any Nigerian State Chief Executive.   


Amid the persistent feet-dragging by the Yar’adua administration which has continued to shield Ibori from the long arms of the law, and in what seems like an intent to insult and mock the collective sensibilities of law-abiding citizens the world over, the coalition involving anti-graft campaigners in Britain and the United States has resolved to arrest Ibori and transfer him to any jurisdiction across the western hemisphere, most likely, Britain, where he will be tried for corruption and money laundering.   


Huhuonline.com has learnt from sources in the coalition that special operations units are now combing the streets of Nigerian cities with instructions to kidnap Ibori and transfer him to Britain or the United States. The dragnet, sources told Huhuonline.com has also been widen to China; the only country where Ibori now travels since any attempt to step foot in the western hemisphere spells doom for the former governor, who, of late has launched a massive media campaign to rehabilitate his hugely tarnished image; taking Nuhu Ribadu head-on in a bruising tit-for-tat media spat.   


The uncharacteristic enterprise dubbed; “Operation Umaru Dikko,” after the audacious attempt by Israeli agents to kidnap and smuggle Umaru Dikko; former Nigerian Transport Minister out of London, is said to be masterminded by some past and present barons of the ruling PDP who feel relegated to the background after losing out in the power struggle that heralded Yar’adua’s ascent to the Presidency.   


Huhuonline.com understands that James Ibori has become the most powerful and influential men in Nigeria today, having generously oiled the wheels of Yar’adua’s 2007 presidential campaign machinery. “Ibori is the kingmaker; all the noise about the so-called Kaduna and Katsina mafia is now history…Ibori is the boss,” a presidential source told Huhuonline.com, adding: “his tentacles stretch from the corridors of Aso Rock to the creeks in the Niger Delta. He is Yar’adua’s political Godfather and no Nigerian government official dare cross his path. The man is an untouchable.”   


Sources have told Huhuonline.com that as soon as Yar’adua came into office, James Ibori put pressure on the President to remove Ribadu as EFCC boss. Ibori’s strategy was to buy time from prosecution by orchestrating the removal of Ribadu. The story was that Ribadu had messed up and lost respect among Nigerians for allowing former President Obasanjo to use him for political battles. If Yar’adua had to be taken seriously about fighting corruption, then Ribadu would have to go, Ibori reportedly told the President. Ibori had his way and Ribadu was not only fired and humiliated, but is now on self-imposed exile.   


Many believe Ibori has an ally in Michael Aondoakaa, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. Aondoakaa’s attitude towards the fight against corruption is, perhaps, better understood against the background of his battle with the EFCC as one of the Counsel to the Benue State government in its action against the EFCC. The state government asked the court to declare the EFCC illegal body and that it had no right to investigate corruption cases against any Benue state official. That case was decided in favour of the EFCC.   


To secure a second term, President Yar’adua must persuade state governors to stick together and back the ruling PDP again. That may be harder in 2011 than it was in the last two elections and it thus will amount to political suicide for Yar’adua to turn against Ibori in the countdown to 2011.     


Huhuonline.com has learnt from impeccable presidential sources that the international anti-graft coalition has been mounting pressure on Yar’adua to make good his rule of law mantra by ending his protection of Ibori. Another important test of Yar’adua’s reform commitment loom: his willingness to sack the widely reviled AG Michael Aondoakaa in the coming reshuffle. That would remove one of James Ibori’s greatest cheerleaders in the government. Last month, three of Ibori’s female associates faced trial in London for laundering of funds stolen from the Delta State treasury. The outcome of this case will shape the future of Yar’adua’s presidency.   


The accusations against Ibori are, indeed, grave and it would be a waste of time to catalogue the many crimes of James Ibori; rather it would be comforting to note that the noose is tightening around his neck as pressure continues to mount on Yar’adua to bring the former Delta State Governor to justice. Ibori is facing 103 counts of money laundering and corruption but the case is unlikely to ever go to trial let alone be resolved. Similar charges against him in the England brought by the London Metropolitan Police were dismissed after the Nigerian Attorney General; Michael Aondoakaa filed a petition that they be dropped.   


James Ibori wields enormous influence and epitomizes everything that is wrong with the Nigerian character. James Ibori is no doubt fighting the battle of his life. Depending on how his luck holds, the next few months will determine whether he will remain the main power broker in the Yar’adua government as his enemies and detractors close up on him. Ibori is having sleepless nights, not only with the ongoing fight with Nuhu Ribadu, but he can no longer step foot outside the shores of Nigeria(Europe & America). But beyond all this, Ibori continues to play a game of survival by using his understanding of Nigeria’s political system to escape the law. Will he survive, will he sink? This is the question agitating the minds of political observers in and outside the corridors of power.

http://www.huhuonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=513:operation-umaru-dikko-international-dragnet-targets-james-ibori&catid=91:elibrary&Itemid=286

OMO IBO:

SMH @ Michael Aondoakaa

I thought Ibori is a fool now i know Michael Aondoakaa is an even bigger fool.

My broda I knew this a long time ago,Ibori is no fool;he's the criminal,the thief,the convict,the shop-lifter,the treasury looter,the murderer
Aondoakaa is the FOOL,he'll be used and dumped,soon enough,the shiit will hit the fan

This guy and his allies r doomed