UK seeks to confiscate £100m from Ibori, or he goes to jail

A London court is set to rule on the confiscation charge of about £100 million loot allegedly linked to James Ibori, former governor of Delta state.

At the court hearing on Thursday, the prosecutor asked the court to confiscate £101.5 million traced to Ibori.

According to Reuters, Jonathan Kinner, the lead prosecution counsel, said the court should seize the money, adding that if the former governor failed to pay up, he should be jailed.

The international news agency reported that the prosecution and defence counsels raised arguments on how the confiscation figure should be calculated.

David Tomlinson, a judge at Southwark Crown Court, had made “factual findings” regarding the funds and is expected to formally issue his order on Friday or shortly afterwards.

The judge’s verdict will put an end to over 10 years of legal disputes regarding the attempt to confiscate the funds.

Ibori, who was governor of Delta between 1999 and 2007, was in 2012, sentenced him to prison for 13 years by a UK Court after convicting him of fraud and money laundering.

The former governor ended his jail term in 2016 and returned to Nigeria the following year.

Over the years, British prosecutors have made several attempts to confiscate Ibori’s assets alleged to be proceeds of crime.

In 2020, the United Kingdom launched a bid to confiscate “proceeds of loot” in the £117 million worth of properties linked to Ibori.

In March 2021, the UK government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nigerian government for the repatriation of £4.2 million loot recovered from Ibori.

In May 2021, the federal government received the £4.2 million loot.