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Ex-convict saga: IG, Ibori trade accusations
MALACHY UZENDU, Abuja
DRAMA
yesterday marked proceedings at the Abuja High Court handling the James Onanefe
Ibori ex-convict matter as the police and the plaintiffs alleged that the
much-sought-after interim report on the issue was all along "in Gov. James
Ibori’s pocket."
But the Delta State governor, through his
counsel, Chief Paul Ohwovoriole (SAN) hotly disputed the claim, denying it as
false and submitting that such could not be substantiated.
Ohwovoriole was, however, overruled by
Justice Husseini Mukhtar.
The police interim report was one of the
six documents demanded from the police by Gov. Ibori to enable him defend the
allegation that he was convicted, with the police able to produce only two.
But, even as the Inspector-General of
Police (IGP), Mr. Tafa Balogun, through Mr. Columbus Okaro, the Deputy
Commissioner of Police (DCP) in-charge of Legal Matters at Force Criminal
Investigation Department (FCID) claimed in court on Monday that the other
documents could no longer be found by the police, Ibori’s legal team obtained
court order seeking to jail the IGP for contempt of court in not tendering the
documents.
When argument on the matter came up
yesterday, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) counsel to the plaintiffs, Delta
State-born chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Messrs
Goodnews Goodman Agbi and Anthony Alabi, alleged that the governor is the
ex-convict, took other lawyers by surprise when he tendered an affidavit deposed
to by one of the lawyers in Ibori’s legal team on which was amended the police
interim report.
Fawehinmi and Chief Adegboyega Awomonlo
(SAN), counsel to the IGP, had claimed that the governor stole the missing
document "and wanted to convict the IGP over a document that is in his pocket."
Fawehinmi told the court that he obtained
a certified true copy (CTC) of the affidavit and annexed documents from the
Federal High Court, Abuja division, in respect of another matter involving the
governor and urged the court to admit the said document.
Inspite of protests by Chief Ohwovoniole,
Gov. Ibori’s lawyer, that the document sought to be tendered by Fawehinmi could
not be substantiated as having emanated from the governor’s legal team led by
Dr. Alex Izinyun (SAN) in report of the pending matter at the Federal High
Court, Justice Muthtar overruled him.
Chief Ohwovoriole also denied the
allegation that Gov. Ibori stole the document and that the said Mr. Abel
Oshevire, Special Assistant (Media) to the governor who was said to have
advertised the missing documents in the newspapers, may not be the anthentic
governor’s aide.
In subsequently asking the court to
discharge its earlier order which led to the issuance of form 48 (committal
processes) on the IGP, Chief Awomonlo claimed that Chief Ohvoroniole "is asking
the IGP to produce documents in his possession."
Stressing that Gov. Ibori pleaded the
document in his defence to the ex-convict case, he maintained that "he would not
have done so if he did not have it or at least sighted the documents. Where did
you get the documents you advertised? You stole it."
But defending Ibori, Chief Ohworoiole
stated that they issued the subpoena on the IGP not because "we have the missing
documents in our pockets, but because we know that they are in police custody."
He also contended that the interim report
was not among the documents allegedly published by the said Mr. Oshevire and
that the police did not take action to arrest the said advertiser because "they
know they have the document with them and are not telling the truth."
Chief Fawehinmi ended the controversy when
he tendered the allegedly missing document which he claimed he obtained from a
legal brief filed by the governor in another case.
Justice Mukhtar settled all the issues
raised by the parties, then Chief Oharovoriole informed the court that only the
statements of Mr. Kuku Fajimi, one of the judges in the Bwari court that
allegedly convicted a James Onanefe Ibori and the statements of one Mr. Shuaibu
Anyaebe, another accused person who stood trial at the Bwari court on September
29, 1995, would be needed by the defence team.
Justice Mukhtar adjourned further hearing
on the matter to October 18 after having struck out a motion which sought to
restrain the IGP from speaking on the Ibori matter and after having admitted the
certified copies of the two needed documents tendered by Ohwovoriole.
Apart from the police interim report,
other documents sought by Ibori were the police case file on case number
CR/81/95, the Police First Information Report (FIR), the statements of the
accused persons, Gov. Ibori’s petition on the matter and statements made by
certain individuals in the cause of police investigation of the Ibori petition.
The plaintiffs had headed to court
alleging that Gov. Ibori lacked constitutional right to seek re-election in 2003
on the claim that he was an ex-convict, a charge flatly denied and contested by
the governor.
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