Lawyers representing the
jailed former governor had alleged serious misconduct by Britain’s prosecuting
authorities.
Britain’s state prosecution
agency has said that the conviction of former Delta State Governor, James
Ibori, remains valid in spite of evidence that a British police officer took
bribes during the investigation of his case.
The allegations include
that the prosecution team failed to properly disclose information to the
defence in relation to alleged corruption by a British police officer involved
in the investigation and that it made misleading statements in court.
The Crown Prosecution
Service (CPS) said on Thursday that while the information “should have been
disclosed to the defence,” that did not call into question the validity of the
convictions of Ibori and others.
This is sequel to an
internal review of the case which lasted months after it (CPS) said in May that
it had found “material to support the assertion that a police officer received
payment in return for information.”
One of Ibori’s associates,
who has been convicted of money-laundering, Bhadresh Gohil, had also alleged
that the judicial process was tainted because prosecutors had covered up
evidence of police corruption.
Ibori’s lawyer, Jonathan
Kinnear, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the agency’s
latest position. Gohil’s lawyer, however, said that he could not comment for
legal reasons.
Ibori was governor of
oil-producing Delta State from 1999 to 2007 and is serving a 13-year sentence
in a British prison after pleading guilty in 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and
money-laundering.
He is the most senior
Nigerian politician to have been held to account for the corruption.
His conviction in Britain
was seen as a high point in efforts to fight corruption in Nigeria.
Sahara Reporter
he committed d crime so he must pay d consequence
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