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I have
forgiven all, says Ibori
�Restates
his innocence in ex-convict case
�Relates what transpired at
his meeting with Yusuf
By
Uwakwe Abugu
Bureau
Chief
(Warri)
Tunke-Aye
Bisina
Repoter
(Asaba)
Emotion
ran high on Tuesday as Delta State Governor James Ibori, savouring his
legal victory in the ex-convict case against him, restated his innocence
and declared that he has forgiven all his detractors.
He
explained during an interdenominational thanksgiving service at the indoor
sports hall, Asaba that when an official of his government first drew his
attention to the allegation, he had reacted thus: �There must be something
wrong here because I can assure you that I had not even gone into a police
station before I became a governor to bail somebody who was in
trouble.
�I
had never even entered a police station to say somebody is in trouble and
that I want to bail the person. So, I�m sure something is wrong and you
better look into it�.
He
also spoke of his meeting with former Bwari Upper Area Court, Abuja, Awal
Yusuf, who was alleged to have convicted him in 1995:
Said
Ibori: �I was just conferring with my attorney general if I could say
this. I have cleared it with him because it is already a matter of public
record � because I made statement to the police when the issue
broke.
�After
I was convinced that I needed to, after much persuasion � because I wanted
to ascertain whether Justice Awal Yusuf himself was a victim of this
forgery � that was the principal reason I conceded to seeing
him.
�I�m
just trying to analyse to you what I mean when I said I know that God will
never fail me because He has never failed me�.
�When
Yusuf came before me and we tried to ascertain if he is also a victim of
this forgery, because his signature was on it, his statement was that it
must be a case of impersonation. Those were his words.
�And,
I said to him, my lord, that cannot be true. Because in 1995, it was only
God who knew I was going to be a governor, nobody on earth knew I was
going to be a governor to go and impersonate me for the purpose of
stopping me from contesting.
�I
turned to my attorney-general, I spoke to him in Urhobo language, �please
leave this man alone, I think he is part of this conspiracy��.
On
his detractors, Ibori said: �All through this time, I have never slept one
day to think about who are these people doing this thing to me. I don�t
remember them, I don�t think about them because I know that if God does
not want something to happen, it will never happen and if God destines
something, there is nothing you will do to stop it; and in the fullness of
God, He will also show to the world why he allowed it to
happen.
�On
Sunday night when I started getting phone calls and receiving text
messages, and I became apprehensive, there was just one reply I was
sending � God is the Governor of Delta State, God is the Head of Delta
State, God is the Head of my family; because I knew God will not abandon
us�.
Odili�s
speech, which he initially made extempore, was intermittently disrupted by
applauses from the congregation who filled the hall and spilled into the
open stadium.
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