The British Royal Court of Justice on the Strand in London yesterday rejected an appeal by former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, to have his 13-year jail term for money laundering slashed.
Two justices of the appellate court dismissed Ibori’s appeal for want of merit. On April 2012, a Southwark Crown Court in South London jailed Ibori for 13 years for embezzling more than $250 million from the treasury of the Delta State between 1999 and 2007 when he served as governor.
Just like when he was sentenced, news agency said a retinue of his supporters thronged the courthouse wearing Tshirts calling for his freedom.
The London Southwark Crown Court, where he was sentenced, was told the amount he stole from the people of Delta State was “unquantified”.
His sentence was announced by Judge Anthony Pitts. Before his sentence, his lawyers had tried to make a case for a lenient jail term. His lead counsel, Nicholas Pernell, blamed Badrash Gohil and former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Victor Attah, for the V-Mobile scam, saying they were the architects of the fraud.
He further credited his client with every development in Nigeria, and especially in Delta State, from the banking reforms, to peace in the Niger Delta, education, and building of low-cost housing. Also in his defence, Pernell said Ibori played a part in supporting British industry even before he became governor. As evidence, he cited a letter from British Airways, thanking Ibori for restoring direct flights between Nigeria and Britain.
In his conclusion, Pernell asked the judge to consider the pressure that his client had been under since investigations began in 2005, and also the accused children who now have both their parents in custody before passing his sentence.
Sasha Wass, QC, prosecuting him, told the court Ibori “deliberately and systematically” defrauded the people he was elected to represent.
“From the moment Ibori was elected, he set about enriching himself at the expense of some of the poorest people in the world,” Wass said at the start of Ibori’s two-day sentencing at Southwark Crown Court in London.
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