‘They want to kill Ibori’

Ben Igbakpa, Deputy Majority Leader, Delta State House of Assembly representing Ethiope West constituency

–Ben Igbakpa, Deputy Majority Leader, Delta State House of Assembly representing Ethiope West constituency
By Igho Akeregha
Recently, you have been complaining that people in Delta state are not comfortable with the way government is prosecuting the anti-corruption war, particularly, as it affects former Delta state governor, James Ibori. What is your grouse?
The issue here is that we believe that while former Governor Ibori was governor of the state, he did his best by developing Delta state, yet he is being pursued like a common criminal. And the process through which the pursuit is made is not in consonance with either the EFCC Act or the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as we all know. Nobody is saying that Ibori should not be prosecuted if there is need for it because we all abhor corruption. If he is corrupt, then his full rights and dignity must be given to him. And that is what the EFCC is not doing; they seem to be working from a different angle that we don’t understand. Because of the way they (EFCC) are behaving, we are very convinced that they are dancing to the tune of their master. We are waiting to see the master, corruption or no corruption.
The EFCC says that they are inviting Ibori to answer certain questions. What is the difficulty in Ibori giving himself up to answer those?
Well, like I said, the process is procedurally wrong. He was declared wanted even before the invitation letter got to him. He was declared wanted at about 10am on April 13th, 2010 and at about 4.22pm of the same day, a letter of invitation was delivered at his Lagos residence by one Mike Anibogu, meaning that he was declared wanted before the letter was written. And that letter was dated 22nd March, 2010– which means that there is something wrong. Why the desperation to see Ibori at all cost. They declared him wanted before they sent that letter dated March 22nd. I wonder where the letter had been for three weeks before it was delivered on the 13th of April. After that, Ibori went to court to challenge that letter and enforce his fundamental human rights and the law provides that once an action has been challenged in a law court, the status quo remains. That is, status quo ante-bellum. The status of things has to remain. In this case, it means Ibori’s status of freedom before they started looking for him. This was after the EFCC assured that they will not jeopardise the smooth running of the case. They did not bother, they went after him.
And this is in spite of the fact that the EFCC is a constituted authority with a clear modus operandi. There is an Act specifying their powers and functions. At part 2, section 6 of the Act, it spelt out the powers of the EFCC. There is nowhere in the law that empowers the commission to invite people without disclosing the reason(s) for their invitation. There is nowhere in that document that says that the EFCC can invite people for “certain reasons.” The invitation must state the reason so that the person invited can prepare himself. Ibori has been governor for eight years and during this period, he has done so many things in the course of his official duties and one cannot expect him to have everything upstairs. If you want to see Ibori, you must give him the reasons, so that he can prepare himself.
We believe that there is something they are hiding. Recently, the EFCC Chairperson said that they have something against Ibori which she said they are not ready to disclose. I am sure Ibori’s trial is a Nigerian trial, a public trial. So, If they are hiding anything, we know that whatever they have against Ibori is not genuine. We are saying that if they have anything against Ibori, let them disclose what it is, but they are denying it. Let them tell Ibori, this is why we want to see you. But they have even denied that he is not being investigated because of a petition by Chief Edwin Clark. That is to say that there is something sinister about the whole thing. That is why Ibori is staying away and wanting to know why he is being invited so that he can be sure that his life is secured before anything can be done.
Now that Ibori has been arrested in Dubai, how are the Delta people taking his arrest and how are you taking it as a member of the Delta State House of Assembly?
To Deltans, they regard Ibori as a law- abiding citizen. He is very quiet and a gentleman who believes in the rule of law. If you look at his antecedents while he was in office and outside office, he believes in the rule of law. That is why, anytime there is a problem, he runs to the court as the last hope of the commonman, the saviour of the commonman. He is no longer in government. He is an ordinary citizen. Now that he has been arrested in Dubai and granted bail, the law should take its course. If the law frees him, he remains a free man, but if the law says otherwise, so be it. The judicial system is applicable everywhere. Nobody contradicts the law, when it speaks, it has spoken and everyone listens to it. But it is only the EFCC that does not listen to the judiciary in Nigeria.
Your tone appears as if Ibori is being persecuted in Nigeria. Is that what you are saying?
That is the position. Ibori is being persecuted because of his political clout, his influence, leadership and charismatic tendency. A lot of them are afraid of him. Ibori’s presence will affect many of them and they are afraid that with this man around, I may not get to where I want to. But I beg to advice that whoever is ambitious and wants something done, I don’t believe that people should be coerced. They should rather appeal to people for support. If they want Ibori’s support, he will give his support to any person who is aspiring. I don’t know why they are afraid of him. That is why they want to get him out of the way at all cost.