WARRI — MISTER Goodnews Agbi, one of the plaintiffs in the ex-convict case against Governor James Ibori of Delta State, yesterday, made public, the four conditions that must be met before they (the plaintiffs) would discontinue with the lawsuit. Agbi who spoke exclusively to Vanguard said the conditions are holding of elections in the three Warri local government areas; dissolution of the Delta State Executive Council (SEC); formation of an all-inclusive cabinet with 40 per cent of the positions reserved for the Ogboru camp and an agreement by the governor to a power shift to another senatorial district after his tenure in 2007. He said that the terms were communicated to those brokering the peace deal.
But in a sharp reaction to Agbi’s conditions, Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, one of the elder statesmen from the state who engineered the “accord” told Vanguard at his country home, Kiagbodo, yesterday, that he was not a party to the conditions and that they were strange to him.
Special Adviser to Governor Ibori on Media, Mr. Abel Oshevire told Vanguard when contacted that the state government was not a party to whatever arrangement the plaintiffs in the case might have reached with Chief Clark and other Delta leaders.
In his words: “we are committed to pursuing the case in court to its logical conclusion. We believe that the law should be allowed to take its due course and justice should be done.”
Vanguard learnt that Governor Ibori has not been formally contacted by Clark and the chairman of the State Traditional Council of Traditional Rulers, Obi Emmanuel Efeizomor, the Obi of Owa who facilitated the arrangement and that plans were afoot to do so.
It was gathered that having extracted a now “contentious” promise from Messrs. Agbi and Alabi to withdraw the lawsuit, the leaders had set in motion a machinery to write Justice Hussein Murktar, the Abuja High Court Judge handling the matter to give them time to settle the matter.
“So far, what has been done is that the leaders have got the plaintiffs to agree to sheathe their swords, that does not mean that they (plaintiffs) have withdrawn the matter or that the matter has been settled. There is nothing the leaders can do about withdrawing the case from the court without getting the consent of the plaintiffs who brought the action in the first instance to agree to the plan. That is what they have done and I believe it is a breakthrough.
