I'm the Ibori Convicted, Says Truck Driver
From Lillian Okenwa in Abuja
The criminal conviction saga allegedly involving the Governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, took a new turn at the weekend when a truck driver claiming to be James Onanefe Ochuko Ibori filed an intervening suit at the Abuja High Court alleging he was the person convicted of criminal negligence in 1995 by the Bwari Upper Area Court.
The truck driver in the action he filed as James Onanefe Ochuko Ibori, said he had to come forward to own up to his actions so that an innocent person will not suffer "for my misconduct and sin."
He said his decision to admit the offence was informed by the advice of his pastor who urged him to do so.
The truck driver in a 12-paragraph affidavit filed in support of his application for joinder dated August 5 but filed on Friday August 6, 2004 made the following admissions:
That I am an itinerant truck driver who plies my trade throughout Nigeria and beyond. That on the 28th day of September, 1995 I was convicted by the Upper Area Court, Bwari, FCT in charge number CR/81/95 on a two count charge of negligence and criminal breach of trust.
That I was sentenced to one year six months imprisonment or five hundred naira fine on each of the two counts. That I opted to pay the fine, which I did the same day. That because of the itinerant and nomadic nature of the business of truck driving, I never had time to stay long in one place.
That it was recently that my attention was drawn by Kesiena Toweh, one of my friends, to the fact that my said conviction by Bwari Upper Area Court, is the subject of litigation in a pending suit. That I immediately consulted my pastor in Gods Power Prayer and Deliverance Ministry, Orerokpe, Delta State who advised me to immediately give myself up and tell the truth about my conviction and sentence so that an innocent person will not suffer for my misconduct and sin.
That I immediately consulted Messrs. Emeka Agbapupuonwu and Clems Ezika, Solicitors, who advised me that I should file this application before I can be heard in this matter.
That my said solicitors informed me, and I verily believed them, that the parties in the suit will not be prejudiced by my being joined as the court will be afforded the opportunity to know the whole truth in this matter by my joinder as a defendant in this suit.
That it is in the interest of justice that I be joined as a defendant in this suit and heard."
Two members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Goodman Agbi and Anthony Alabi, had prior to the 2003 general elections filed a suit challenging Ibori's qualification as a candiate for the post of Delta State governor.
They anchored their petition on a 1995 case in which they alleged the governor was convicted of criminal negligence and fined N1,000. While the High Court said a James Onanefe Ibori was convicted but not sentenced, the Appeal Court said the Ibori was convicted, and ordered for fresh trial. The Supreme Court also upheld the decision of the appellate court. The trial judge in the 1995 case, Awwal Yusuf, has, however, testified that the governor was the person he sentenced in that case.
The FCT Chief Judge, Justice Lawal Gumi, who investigated the matter on the directive of the Chief Justice of the Nigeria, also submitted in a report already admitted in court that the Delta State governor was convicted.
At the last hearing of the case, Governor Ibori was still trying to get the police to submit the interim report of an investigation the police Inspector General submitted to President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Following a petition from the governor that some people were circulating documents that he was an ex-convict, Obasanjo directed the IG to investigate the matter.
The IG's report to the president has become a subject of controversy as the police have twice been unable to bring the interim report to court. That report is believed to have favoured the governor.
The police, however, brought a final report which Governor Ibori's counsel did not allow the IG's representative to tender in court. That report is believed to have indicted Governor Ibori.
The court is currently on vacation and will hear the case on September 27 and 28, 2004.
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