We hear N4.4billion was spent to prosecute James Ibori… for stealing billions

by Iyobosa Omoregie

It was revealed in the Senate on Friday, February 27, that about £14m (N4.4bn) was spent to prosecute and secure the conviction of former governor of Delta, James Ibori,

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and anti-corruption, Senator Victor Lar, made the revelation in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

Lar disclosed this while Federal Government agencies under the supervision of his committee were defending their 2015 budgets in the Senate. He, however, added that Nigerian anti-graft agencies did not spend a dime on the case.

Lar gave the figures but failed to disclose from whose purse the funds were taken.

Lar said: “All the convictions were secured with very limited or no funds. People are quick to celebrate the conviction of James Ibori in the UK. The truth is that to secure Ibori’s conviction, a whopping sum of £14m was expended. That is almost N4.4bn which is more than 10 years recurrent and capital budgets of all the anti-corruption agencies put together.”

The senator also pointed out the need to amend the laws of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and Other Related Offences Commission, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, in order for them to directly receive their funds.

He stressed that other countries were able to prosecute financial crimes successfully because a percentage of funds recovered from the proceeds of crime was retained by the recovering agency for the funding of its activities.

He added: “Once you are arrested and taken to court, it is outside the control of the enforcement agencies. So it is not entirely the fault of the enforcement agencies that there is corruption in the country. This administration has fought corruption more than at any other time because we have more petitions, more people are taken to court and we have more convictions now than ever before.”

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