ABUJA — AN Abuja High Court yesterday handed Governor James Onanefe Ibori of Delta State a clean bill of health after dismissing in its entirety the suit filed by two chieftains of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Messrs Goodnews Agbi and Anthony Alabi, alleging he (Ibori) was an ex-convict.
Justice Hussein Murhktar in dismissing the case held that the plaintiffs failed woefully to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt that the governor was the one convicted in CR-81-95 by an Upper Area Court, Bwari, Abuja.
The plaintiffs had contended in their suit that the James Onanefe Ibori who was a sub-contractor to Spibat Nigeria Limited at Usman Dam near Bwari in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and convicted on September 28, 1995 on a two-count charge of negligent conduct and criminal breach of trust was the same Chief James Ibori who is now serving as governor of Delta State. They, therefore, asked the court to declare him incompetent to be governor, having been caught by section 182 (1) (e) of the 1999 constitution.
But the judge yesterday said that they failed to establish any nexus between the convicted James Onanefe Ibori and the governor. Said he: "This is because the credibility of the principal witness of the plaintiffs, Justice Awwal Yusuf, on which their case heavily depends, has been greatly challenged by the defendants in the case.
"Although the surname, the middle name and the first name of the convict on the record of proceedings in CR-81-95 are the same with that of Delta State governor, such coincidental circumstance may not be enough to conclude that Governor James Onanefe Ibori is the same person convicted in the charge. This is more so when memory of the principal witness of the plaintiffs, Justice Yusuf, has been seriously faulted, even in events that recently happened."
The judgment was delivered under tight security. A good number of supporters of the opposing parties in the case were not allowed to enter the court premises and the courtroom. Most of those that witnessed the judgment were either journalists or lawyers who were screened by dozens of mobile policemen led by DSP Ibrahim Musa Osafu before they were allowed into the court.
The supporters of the parties in the suit were made to stay off the court premises by hundreds of metres. But a few of them still fought their way into the courtroom.
Heavily armed security men arrived the court at exactly 6.29a.m, in a UNIMOG Mercedez Benz truck with number plate NPF 2321 B. They carried rifles, tear gas canisters and walkie talkies.
The first batch of policemen entered the court, combed it and sent out everybody inside including this reporter but save the court’s security men on duty.
At about 7.45a.m, another police van carrying mobile policemen also screeched to a halt in front of the High Court premises. The policemen came out to join others already on ground. Passage on the roads around the court was almost made impossible as anybody sighted was questioned and turned back upon unconvincing explanation. A lawyer, fully robed who drove past the policemen was almost shot.
Shortly after, an armoured personnel carrier drove close to the court premises with supporters who had earlier been driven away from the court’s environment watching, some smoking and drinking. With the heavy presence of the armed mobile policemen, supporters and officials of the Delta State government feared that Governor Ibori would lose.
Although those in the other camp were also gripped by fear, they said they were prepared for the worst. Few minutes to 9:00 am, the door to the courtroom was still locked.
Vanguard learnt that the keys were misplaced. The doors were eventually broken while most people entered into the courtroom through the window. At exactly 9.00a.m, the trial judge emerged from his chambers and sat as usual and took the appearances of lawyers in the case. At exactly 9:08am, the judge said: "This is the judgment of this court." The audience looked at one another and adjusted themselves.
The judgment was not type-written. The judge read from his record of proceedings and written briefs of the opposing parties. At intervals he would search from his overloaded table for some documents to read from. It was clear that he did not want the judgment to leak.
Justice Murhktar devoted the first 60 minutes of the two-hour judgment to a review of the entire case, especially the evidence led in the course of the trial, the written submissions filed and adopted by the counsel in the case before he started making his findings. According to the judge, the credibility of the plaintiffs’ principal witness, Justice Yusuf, was greatly challenged. He said this evidence which the plaintiffs solely relied upon was laced with contradictions.
He also dismissed as sheer opinion the report of his boss and Chief Judge of the Abuja High Court, Justice Lawal Gummi that it was Governor James Ibori that was convicted in CR-81-95 because those indicted in the report like Hon. Bala Ngilari and Governor Ibori were not given a fair hearing.
He upheld the submission of the defendants in the case that the report offended principles of fair hearing and audi alteram partem. He also dismissed the final report of the police as nothing but an ordinary opinion.
He then turned to some of the material contradictions in the evidence of Justice Yusuf, citing in particular a submission by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) including the followings:
lOn June 30, 2004, PW1 (Justice Yusuf) gave evidence that among the six First Information Reports brought on September 28, 1995, one was against James Onanefe Ibori of Delta State but a careful perusal of the criminal complaints book showing the list of complaints on records and the FIR registered shows that there is no one bearing the name of James Onanefe Ibori;
lYusuf claims in his evidence stated that out of the FIRs, five pleaded guilty and the only one who did not plead guilty was one Monica Lewinsky. From exhibit C and Ci and D, there was no name as Monica Lewinsky, rather there was one Miss Monica Innocent. It shows that Justice Yusuf is a man of straw with serious amnesia;
l·Justice Yusuf claims that James Onanefe Ibori was convicted under section S157 of CPC and fined N500 or six months imprisonment. But under cross-examination, PW1 admitted that one Shuaibu Anyebe was convicted on the same September 28, 1995 under section 157 of the CPC on a similar charge of criminal breach of trust and negligent conduct and that same fine of N500 each on each count charge or six months imprisonment was imposed on the accused who was charged under the same charge number CR-81-95;
lYusuf in evidence claims that on January 21, 2003 when he went with Hon, Bala Ngilari to the Government Liaison Office in Abuja, he said he was led in by the Attorney-General of Delta State who introduced himself and that after five minutes someone entered in white shirt into the sitting room and he was introduced to him (Yusuf) as the governor of Delta State. No one will introduce a known person in actual circumstance of life.
lAt the earliest opportunity when the governor was introduced to him and he was asked to confirm if he convicted the governor, he said he kept quiet contrary to the un-controverted evidence of Bala Ngilari that all along, Yusuf was surprised and jolted when he was confronted with the issue of identity.
lYusuf in the meeting advised Ngilari in the presence of the Attorney General of Delta State and Governor Ibori that he should file a civil claim and that he should be invited to testify, along side the commissioner of police that prosecuted the case and registrar, all to come for clarification on the identity. If the issue of identity of who was convicted was not still hazy, Yusuf would not have suggested this line of action. This became clearer under cross-examination when he said that the reason why he advised Ngilari to file the second suit was for clarification;
lYusuf claims in his evidence that Governor Ibori promised to make him rich and will give him N10 million in any denomination contrary to the statement to the police when he was a suspect as seen in exhibit E1 and E2 when he had the earliest possible time to restate the truth;
lYusuf admitted under cross-examination that Kuku Fajemi was his member who sat with him and that the said Kuku Fajemi signed the record of proceedings six days after Justice Yusuf had signed off and this Justice Yusuf admitted under cross-examination;
lThat Yusuf who claimed that Fajemi could identify Governor Ibori on September 28, 1995 contradicted the statement of Kuku Fajemi to the police that he could not identify Governor Ibori as the accused person on the proceedings of September 28, 1995;
lJustice Yusuf under cross-examination admitted that pages 877 to 887 are missing from the record and he claimed some crooks got their way into the record book but did not say it was Governor Ibori;
lThat the missing pages 877 to 889 of the record as admitted by Yusuf relate to the proceedings of Shuaibu Anyebe and yet the same proceedings applies to James Onanefe Ibori. What a bundle of incongruities!
lUnder cross-examination, the same Yusuf who said the FIR of James Onanefe Ibori was registered as CR-81-95 somersaulted later that the Divisional Crime Officer of the police station handling the case wanted to remove the FIR of James Onanefe Ibori but it was not withdrawn and so was registered as CR-85-95 whereas CR-85-95 is in respect of COP Vs Adamu Mohammed of Lugbe Village. So who is James Onanefe Ibori in suit number CR-81-85 and CR-85-95?
That Yusuf admitted under cross examination that there is a case diary for CR-85-95 which he claims was the FIR registered for James Onanefe Ibori. It shows that the person who was convicted in FIR number CR-81-95 was not James Onanefe Ibori;
lJustice Yusuf says under cross examination that he is confused and cannot understand the dual version of the proceedings of CR-81-95;
Yusuf under cross-examination says he cannot remember the subject matter of the charge in CR-81-95 whereas he had already said that he knows CR-81-95 relates to Shuaibu Anyebe"s case and that it was for criminal breach of trust and negligent conduct;
lYusuf in another breadth said FIR relating to James Onanefe Ibori is CR-81-95, among several other contradictions which I will leave out for the sake of time
"In view of the gamut of material contradictions in Justice Yusuf’s evidence, it is difficult for one to say that his evidence is capable and reliable enough to ground the prayer being requested And where a trial court is faced with identification evidence, it should be satisfied that the evidence adduced is beyond reasonable doubt.
"But in the instant case, there are very serious doubts. And with the bundle of material contradictions in the evidence of PW1 (Justice Yusuf,) the irresistible conclusion is that Governor James Onanefe Ibori is not the one convicted in CR-81-95.
"Consequently, I hold that the case of the plaintiffs collapses while the counter-claims of the defendants succeed," Justice Murhktar added.
The counter claims of Governor Ibori are as follow:
lThat Governor Ibori never appeared before the Upper Area Court, Bwari and was not the one convicted on September 28, 1995;
lThat the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court report was an opinion and inadmissible and secondly that the report is void for contravention of the rule of natural justice;
lThat exhibit A which contains the trial, conviction and sentence of James Onanefe Ibori on September 28, 1995 was not credible;
lThat Gov Ibori started using the name James Onanefe Ibori only from his university days at the University of Benin in party politics;
lThat exhibit "A" i.e. the proceedings of the Upper Area Court, Bwari contained in exhibit "b" in this proceedings at pages 147-148, 157-158, 234-235 and 243-244 where James Onanefe Ibori was tried, convicted and sentenced, is a product of fraud, illegality, a nullity and therefore void.
As soon as the judge made his position known in the matter, a few supporters of Governor Ibori who were inside the court-room started sending text messages to their friends throughout the country and those not allowed to enter on the outcome of the case.
The judge rose at exactly 11:08 without giving any of the parties in the case an opportunity to comment on the quality of the judgment.
Reporters surrounded Chief Fawehinmi for his comments on the judgment. He was moody as he spoke. His words: "We are not satisfied with the judgment and we will definitely appeal. In fact, we have started preparing for the appeal. It is only the judgment of the court which is clearly not yet ready that will delay it."
The legal team of Governor Ibori was naturally elated. Each of the senior counsel in the team spoke with newsmen commending the judgment. Alternate lead counsel in the case, Chief Paul Ohwhoworiole (SAN), said: "We have said the governor is innocent. Now, we are vindicated. We have severally said that Governor Ibori is not an ex-convict. They are out to destroy the name of the governor. And the court has vindicated us."
Asked what his view was on the proposal by the plaintiffs to appeal the judgment of the trial court, he said: "They have a constitutional right of appeal. Let them go there. We will meet. What is clear is that we have won in all ramifications. On benefit of the doubt, we have won. On balance of probability, we have won. On proving case beyond reasonable doubt, we have won. Even at the Court of Appeal, we shall also win. This is because they cannot perform magic at the Court of Appeal. "They will still rely on the evidence led at the trial court. I say they will still lose at the Court of Appeal," he added.
Delta State government yesterday also reacted almost immediately via a statement.
"This morning(yesterday), justice was done to Chief James Onanefe Ibori, Governor of Delta State as an Abuja High Court declared that he was innocent of the allegation that he was an ex-convict. This landmark judgment reaffirms the governor’s position that he was a victim of a high wire conspiracy by certain individuals who falsified court records in order to implicate him
"This political misadventure by those over-ambitious people in their attempt to subvert the political will of majority of Deltans has finally collapsed. The governor, therefore, urges them to deeply reflect on their actions of the past 20 months. The governor dedicates this victory to God, the impartial judge, and restates his confidence in the Nigerian judiciary as a pillar of democracy
"Once again, the judiciary in Nigeria, in spite of attempts by certain individuals to discredit it, has proved its ability to dispense justice to all. The governor especially thanks Deltans and indeed all well meaning Nigerians who saw through the conspiracy from the beginning and expressed their belief in his innocence through their unflinching support."
One of the plaintiffs in the case, Dr Goodnews Agbi in his reaction said "the judgment is unfortunate. It is against the expectations of many Nigerians and Deltans. We will definitely go on appeal."
The legal battle commenced on February 3, 2003 when the plaintiffs went to court in a bid to stop Governor James Onanefe Ibori from contesting the last April 19, 2003 gubernatorial election .
They named the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), its Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh and its Secretary, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor as defendants in the case. In the course of the trial, 14 exhibits were tendered by both parties in the case apart from written submissions filed by each of the parties.
Chief Fawehinmi filed a 162-page brief on behalf of the plaintiffs to encapsulate their case while the Chambers of Dr Alex Izinyon (SAN) filed a 53-page brief. The lead counsel representing each of the parties was given one hour each to address the court on their written submissions before the judge delivered judgment.
