Billionaire and business magnate, Ayiri Emami has declared that former Delta state governor, James Ibori who is currently in jail in the United Kingdom for charges of corruption and money laundering, would return to Nigeria not later than July.

Ibori who is widely touted as Ayiri’s benefactor, was given a lifeline in his bid for freedom when it was alleged the Crown Prosecution and the Police conspired to bury evidence that could have been crucial in his trial.

The police officers involved in his trial have also been accused of receiving bribes after several deposits totaling up to thousands of dollars were traced to one of the officers’ account.

The allegations, if found true are enough grounds for Ibori to be freed from his prison sentence on the grounds of a miscarriage of justice.

While speaking in Warri, Ayiri said that Ibori would soon return to the country to sanitise Delta state.

He also lamented that if Ibori had been around before the 2015 presidential elections, a lot of things that happened would not have happened while revealing that the former governor predicted that Goodluck Jonathan would not win his reelection bid in the said election.

He said, “There have been speculations as to when Ibori would return, but I can confidently tell you that by June or at most July, he would return home to Nigeria and we all need him, especially in Delta to sanitise things again.

“If he were here, a lot of things would not have happened. Ibori was one of those who predicted that Goodluck Jonathan and the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, would not win the 2015 Presidential election. It was fear of the unknown that made his brother, former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to remain in PDP. I listened to Ibori, I had to leave”

Ayiri also discussed how he planned to end pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta area.

He said: “Far from applying force to shut out the vandals. The whole idea is to ensure that the oil and gas being taken from the region make meaning in the lives of the host communities. We’ll not achieve this if the vandalisation continues.

“The gas Nigeria produces supplies electricity to several parts of the country, but the communities from where it is being extracted don’t have electricity. The crude oil from the land is refined into fuel but there are no fuel distribution outlets to serve riverine communities so they perpetually buy from the black market.

“People are shouting now about fuel scarcity because of recent irregularity in importation, but year in year out, coastal communities in Niger Delta never get fuel at the normal pump price. My campaign to be unfolded soon is to ensure the adequate provision of infrastructure and opportunities in the oil producing area so that vandalism will stop”, Ayiri added.

Adebayo Emuleomo