Ibori returns to court tomorrow

Former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, who is serving a jail term in London will on Monday return to the Southwark Crown Court for the confiscation of assets.

Both the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Mr Ibori’s defence team will finalise arrangements to confiscate the £50 million assets for which he received a 13-year jail term at the same court in April.

The former governor had earlier requested to be present in court in May when the confiscation hearing was listed for mention, but the Judge, who jailed him, declined, saying it wasn’t necessary.

Two sources at the Crown Court confirmed that Mr Ibori would be present for the hearing. “It’s in Court 5, at 10am and he’ll be coming,” one of the sources said, when asked if Ibori would be there with his legal team.

Asked in which prison the convicted governor would be coming from, another court staff said she had no idea, but that Mr Ibori was presently not at Wandsworth Prison, where he spent the early days of his conviction.

“I don’t really know where he is, as the system has not been updated,” she responded.

And on who would be on Mr Ibori’s defence team when State prosecutors make their case to strip him of his ill-gotten wealth on Monday, another court staff said, “we don’t know who’s representing him, but the prosecutor is the CPS.”