$15m Ibori bribe: “Return money to Delta State, sack EFCC boss” – Edwin Clark weighs in

inShare

by Isi Esene
The self-styled godfather to the president, Chief Edwin Clark has called for the removal of the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde over the $15m allegedly offered to former EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu by the former Delta State governor, James Ibori.
Clark said this at a press briefing in Abuja to address matters regarding the alleged bribe. He canvassed for the prosecution of Lamorde, who was EFCC’s director of operations under Ribadu, when Ibori allegedly offered the money and was asked to fetch it from the home of a former presidential aide, Andy Uba, now a senator.
He said there were contradictions and lies in the affidavit deposed to by the EFCC concerning the Ibori’s $15m bribe insisting that the funds belong to the Delta State Government.
According  to him, an affidavit deposed to on August 10 2012 by Bello Yahaya, a police officer attached to the EFCC on behalf of the EFCC was suspect.
He gave an instance where Yahaya reportedly stated that no one has claimed ownership of the said money.
He said:

“In paragraph seven of his affidavit, Yahaya claimed: ‘I know as a fact that the said $15m is an unclaimed property and no one has claimed or shown any link to the sum’”.

“This is not true as in September 2009, the Delta State Elders and Leaders Stakeholders Forum in a protest march that took them to the Central Bank of Nigeria premises in Abuja submitted a written petition to the Governor of Central Bank urging him to refund the money to the Delta State Government as Ibori, as an individual, could not have raised the said huge sum.

“Also in the charges that were later dropped by the London Crown Court against James Ibori and in the statement of former EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu statements to the Metropolitan Police, the ownership of the said money were not in doubt.”

He explained that this sort of actions will only portray the anti-graft agency in bad light urging them to do the right thing.
He said EFCC’s position on the alleged bribe offer will “put the anti-graft agency not only in ridicule, but portray it as an agency not transparent, competent and committed to war against corruption”.
YNaija