WARRI— PRESSURE is mounting on Messrs. Goodnews Agbi and Anthony Alabi, plaintiffs in the controversial ex-convict case against Governor James Ibori to withdraw the case.
The case resumes today at the Abuja High Court.
Only yesterday, Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark and Chairman of the Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers, Obi Emmanuel Ezeizomor, Obi of Owa told reporters in Warri that the plaintiffs had agreed to sheathe their swords and withdraw the case.
Mr. Agbi confirmed the pressure on them (plaintiffs) to withdraw the case when contacted by Vanguard yesterday on phone. He said they (the plaintiffs) decided to give the discontinuation of the suit a thought since the chairman of the State Council of Traditional Rulers and other eminent leaders in the state had told them to do so.
News of the alleged withdrawal was received with joy by the Ibori camp yesterday but sources close to him said he wanted to be sure of the authenticity of the story as he knew all along that he would be vindicated at last. Indeed, the governor’s special adviser on media, Mr. Abel Oshevire, was cautious in his reaction last night, saying he had heard about the development. He said it was up to the plaintiffs to decide which way they wanted to go since they were the ones that initiated the case in the first place.
Mr Agbi told Vanguard that traditional rulers and eminent leaders from the state begged them to withdraw the matter and that they would give them a chance as they requested to settle the matter out of court.
He said, however, that there were still conditions to be met before the case would be deemed to have been fully settled, adding that he was overwhelmed by the efforts put in by Chief Clark and others who had to trace him to Lagos, Abuja and other places to get him to withdraw the suit.
Mr. Agbi in a two-page letter to Chief Clark and which was read to newsmen at the press conference said inter alia: “Refer to your discussion with and appeal to me and Anthony Alabi (co-plaintiffs) to settle the matter out of court whatever quarrel with Chief James. So, after previous interaction and consultation, wide and outside Delta State including enormous pressure brought upon us by the People’s Democratic Party, we have considered and accepted your entreaties to withdraw the case and settle out of court.
“Your visit to us in Lagos and Abuja cannot just be discountenanced with impunity. Therefore, please in consultation with the Obi of Owa, chairman of the Delta State Royal Fathers who has equally begged us, you can proceed with the press conference.”
Gani says no withdrawal
But counsel to the plaintiffs, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), contacted on phone last night moment after he flew into Abuja for the resumption of the case denied that the case had been withdrawn.
Chief Fawehinmi said: “There is nothing like withdrawal and there can’t be any withdrawal anyway. I saw the plaintiffs today (last night) and they did not tell me they were going to withdraw the suit.
“I am already in Abuja for the case tomorrow (today), the case continues. So tell the whole world that there is no withdrawal and the case will continue until justice is done.”
Chief Clark told reporters that the initiative to ask Agbi and co to withdraw the matter was strictly the decision of the traditional rulers and leaders of the state who felt highly disturbed by the suit and the bad name it was giving to the state.
Asked why Mr. Agbi was not physically present at the press conference, Chief Clark said he was too old to be telling them lies, pointing out that he was the one that asked Agbi to write the letter to him in his own handwriting for him (Clark) to be sure that they had his mandate to announce to the world that the matter had been settled.
He said the leaders did not contact Chief Great Ogboru over the matter as he had said himself that he was not a party to the case. Vanguard learnt that Agbi’s letter to Clark on the withdrawal of the suit was delivered to him yesterday by an emissary from Abuja. He added that the anti-Ibori people who would come to court today to mock the governor would be put to shame, pointing out that Deltans had put that chapter behind them.
The Obi of Owa said they intervened in the matter because it was a matter that was almost becoming an embarrassment to the people of the state. He said the state was not the worst in the country but some people were using it to paint the state black, appealing to the press to help build the state and stop emphasizing negative things about the state and its people.
