WITH an e-mail, the Crown Prosecutor in the current hearing on the confiscation of James Ibori’s assets in a London court, Sasha Wass, has neutralized the claim by the convicted politician’s counsel, Ivan Krolick, that the former Delta State governor did not try to induce the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and that “the money -$15 million bribe- came from the Federal Government to set him up.”
Krolick had made the claim while cross-examining former EFCC chairman Nuhu Ribadu who rounded off his two-day testimony at the Southwark Crown Court at the weekend, alleging that the bribery claim was a scheme hatched to bring down Ibori.
But Krolick had barely taken his seat when Wass jumped off her bench, to strengthen Ribadu’s testimony and neutralise what her learned friend had just said. She read to the court a 1.01pm, April 25, 2007directive from Ibori’s email address which was found when detectives raided the Mayfair office of one of the politician’s frontmen, Brandresh Gohil. It was a message from Ibori, confirming that there “should be a facility to the Commission.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigerian Police Service Commission, Mike Okiro, has reacted to allegation by Ribadu of attempting to assassinate him, describing the latter as a liar.
At the hearing on confiscation of assets of Ibori at the Southwark Crown Court, Ribadu told the court that the then Inspector-General (IG) of Police (Okiro), was behind the two failed assassination attempts on his life and not the politician himself.
Ribadu, who spent Friday in the witness box and was cross-examined by both the defence and prosecution counsel, also claimed that “Ibori was responsible for Okiro’s appointment as IG.”
“He recommended him to the late president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. They - Ibori and Okiro - were extremely close,” Ribadu stated.
In a statement yesterday, Okiro said he could not have withdrawn Ribadu’s official car since he was not responsible for providing an official car for EFCC boss.
He said: “My attention has been drawn to comments made about me on page 7 of the Saturday 21st September 2013 issue of the Vanguard Newspapers and Weekly Trust of same day page 5 by Nuhu Ribadu.
“Ribadu went on a course to National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS). He was not posted out of EFCC. His Deputy, Ibrahim Lamorde was acting and holding forth. The vehicle(s) he was using belonged to EFCC where he was chairman for about six years and could not have been withdrawn by the police. The policemen he used as his security were those posted permanently to EFCC.
“Therefore, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) had no role in their internal daily deployment. Thirdly, Ribadu was on course as Assistant Inspector-General of Police and statutorily had to maintain his paraphernalia of security details.”
Okiro said “Nigerians will remember that Ribadu once caused a newspaper publication to be made to the effect that he was attacked and shot at on his way to NIPSS but was saved because he was driving a bullet proof vehicle and the attackers could not stop him.
“He said that he suspected a retired Inspector-General of Police who had been monitoring him. I was then serving as IGP. I was angry that a serving Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) or even any AIG at all or a VIP, for that matter, was shot at and I was not briefed.
“I called him several times to give me details but he refused to pick my calls. I then sent signals to Commissioners of Police (CP) FCT Abuja, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Plateau, the likely state commands where the incident could have taken place. They all replied that no such incident happened in their commands. Since I could not reach him, I addressed a press conference where I stated that his claim of attack was false.”
The former IG recalled that he took that advantage also to ask Ribadu publicly to come up with details of the day and time and where the incident took place. “Ribadu never came up as directed. For him to turn round now and say that I was involved ‘in attempts to assassinate him’ demonstrated the double speak for which he is shamefully known. He was an AIG under me. Why must I want to assassinate a subordinate officer?” Okiro queried.
He continued: “Ribadu said he was there when James Ibori nominated Mike Okiro to be IGP. Well I was not there myself and cannot confirm or refute the claims. I am just hearing it now, for the first time. If he was there did he oppose it? I was appointed IGP on merit and seniority.”
Source: Guardian
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