DELTA STATE LOSES AS FG WON THE OWNERSHIP AND CUSTODY OF THE $15 MILLION BRIBE ALLEGEDLY GIVEN BY FORMER GOVERNOR OF DELTA STATE, CHIEF JAMES ONANEFE IBORI, TO FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION (EFCC), NUHU RIBADU.

The Federal Government has won the ownership and  custody of the $15  million bribe  allegedly given by former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, to former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes  Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu.

In his judgment at the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, Justice Gabriel Kolawole declared that the money should  be forfeited to the Federal Government since the Delta State

Government could not prove that Ibori stole the money from its coffers.

“The claimant has not sufficiently proved that the money belongs to them; they failed to establish that they are entitled to the money. In the light of Ibori’s denial that he gave $15 million to anyone, the money becomes an unclaimed property. Kolawole ruled.  “It has become an illegal proceed and is hereby forfeited to the federal government. The respondent should ensure that  the money is paid into the account of the federal  government for official use.”

Delta, through its Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Charles Ajuyah (SAN), had approached the  court asking that the $15 million (over N2billion) allegedly  received as bribe by Ribadu from Ibori be paid to it.

The court had earlier ordered that the money be temporarily  forfeited to the Federal Government, and to be finally forfeited if no one came forward to claim ownership of it  within 14 days of the publication of an advertorial pertaining to the interim order.  However, Ajuyah filed an affidavit  claiming that the money, which  has been in CBN custody since April 2007, belongs to Delta  and its people. He prayed the court to hold that any application or order granting the money to any other entity than Delta State would be improper, among others.

But according to Kolawole “no one is ready to lay claim t the money for obvious reasons. “The claimant needs to do more to prove that the money belongs to them. The claim must be proved beyond Ibori’s  denial that he ever gave any money as bribe to anyone.

“The Delta State Government has to show that an audit of the state account was carried (out) after Ibori’s tenure from  1999 to 2007 and found that the money was missing from the state’s account. It did not do any investigation by way of audit and come to a conclusion that the money was missing.”

He further ruled: “It will amount to fallacy to assume that Chief James Ibori cannot have that kind of money. The claimant should have produced the asset declaration form  of Ibori from 1999 to 2007 when he functioned as governor  of the state. It is not enough to claim that no one is more connected to the money than Delta State.

“The court will not hesitate to hand over the money to Delta State if it is proved that it belongs to them. The pendency of the case does not prevent the state from asking for an order that the money be lodged in an interest-yielding account to enable them conduct an audit of the state

account.” said the Judge.