UK moves to confiscate Ibori’s loot

A British prosecutor has launched a fresh attempt to confiscate tens of millions of pounds stolen from an oil-producing state in Nigeria by its former governor, who was convicted of laundering his loot in Britain. James Ibori, who was governor of Delta State from 1999 to 2007, pleaded guilty at London’s Southwark Crown Court in 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering. He received a 13-year jail sentence.

The case was a rare example of a prominent Nigerian politician being punished for his part in the endemic corruption that has blighted Africa’s most populous country for decades. Since then, several other Nigerian former state governors have been convicted in their own country. Having served half of his sentence in pre- and post-trial detention, Ibori was released from jail in December 2016 and is now back in Nigeria. In 2013, a first attempt was made in Britain to confiscate his assets, but it was aborted after three weeks of hearings because of unresolved legal disputes. Then the confiscation process was stalled for several years while Ibori and several of his associates, who had been convicted for their roles in laundering his money, appealed unsuccessfully against their convictions.

Reuters