"James Ibori gave me $15million as bribe in 2007" - Nuhu Ribadu

Desperate to halt a probe into his
finances, governor James Ibori tried to
bribe former anti-corruption boss Nuhu
Ribadu in 2007 with $15 million in cash
in a bag so heavy one man alone could
not lift it, Ribadu told a London court on
Thursday.

Ribadu said he pretended to take the
bribe because he wanted the cash as
evidence to use against Ibori in a
prosecution, but rather than keep the
money for himself he had it taken
straight to the Central Bank of Nigeria
to be kept safe in a vault. Continue..

Ribadu told the court that about $1
billion flowed from federal government
accounts into Delta State coffers during
Ibori’s eight years in power, and he
estimated Ibori had stolen or wasted
more than half of that amount.
The charges to which Ibori pleaded
guilty amount to the theft of about $80
million, but British prosecutors say that
was only part of his total booty, which
was kept hidden via a complex web of
shell companies, offshore accounts and
front men.

Ribadu, who was chairman of  Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) from April 2003 to December
2007, was giving evidence at a
confiscation hearing in which
prosecutors are seeking court orders to
have Ibori’s assets seized.

Under Nigeria’s constitution, state
governors enjoy immunity from
prosecution but are limited to two
terms in office. With the end of his
second term looming in April 2007,
Ibori was worried the EFCC were
planning to prosecute him, Ribadu said.

“He was very desperate to terminate
the investigation,” he told the court.
In late April 2007, a meeting was
arranged between the two men at a
“neutral place”, the house of Andy Uba,
a close associate of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo.

Ibori arrived at the house with several
members of his staff and a very large
black sack containing $15 million in
cash. Ribadu said he watched as two of
Ibori’s men lifted the heavy sack and
handed it over to his own EFCC staff.
“It was a bag that an individual could
not carry alone,” he said.

The EFCC men drove the bag to the
central bank where the money was
counted and boxed into smaller
containers. The court was shown
photographs of the boxes of cash.
“I have given you money Nuhu, just
give me my clearance,” Ribadu quoted
Ibori as telling him after those events.
Instead, the EFCC continued to
investigate Ibori’s affairs and had him
arrested on corruption charges on
December 12, 2007.

It will be recalled that the Delta state
government had approached the court
asking that the money belonged to the
state government and should therefore
be returned to the state. The EFCC are
however opposed to the return of the
money to the state.
The EFCC says that “that the said sum
of $15 Million cannot be traced to any
account owned or being operated by
the Delta State Government or any of
its agencies and officials”.