LONDON, England – A London court ordered James Ibori, a former Nigerian state governor, to pay back £101.5 million ($130 million) he acquired by abusing his office and laundering the funds in Britain and elsewhere.
The confiscation order, issued on Friday, July 21, 2023, is one of the largest to be imposed on an individual in recent British legal history.
Currently in Nigeria, Ibori plans to appeal against the confiscation order. “The next steps will be to take my fight for justice to the highest courts in the UK,” he stated.
Ibori, the former governor of oil-rich Delta State from 1999 to 2007, was extradited from Dubai to Britain in 2011.
He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering in 2012, leading to a 13-year jail sentence, half of which he served per standard procedures.
The case has been lauded as a landmark in combating corruption, both in Britain, a global hub for money-laundering, and in Nigeria, where elite self-enrichment has long stifled development.
Judging the confiscation order at Southwark Crown Court, Judge David Tomlinson stated that Ibori must immediately pay the sum or face an additional eight-year jail sentence.
There has been no response from Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s office on whether the Nigerian government will collaborate with British authorities in enforcing the confiscation order.
Ibori, who still holds significant sway in Nigerian politics and frequently associates with the ruling elite, has met with President Tinubu twice since his inauguration in May, along with other former governors.
Over a decade after Ibori’s conviction, the confiscation process was significantly delayed due to extensive court backlogs and legal wrangling in London.
Helen Taylor, Senior Legal Researcher at the campaign group Spotlight on Corruption, commented on the arduous path to this point, stating, “The long and tortuous road to reach this point shows just how tough it is to recover the proceeds of corruption in the UK.”
She emphasized the importance of the swift return of the stolen funds “to benefit the victims of Ibori’s corruption in Delta State.”
The UK has promised to return any recovered funds to Nigeria.
In 2021, it returned £4.2 million confiscated from Ibori’s ex-wife and sister, who also served jail time for their involvement in his corrupt dealings.
