There comes a time when each person’s position is re-evaluted by society and the company he or she keeps. There is nothing unusual about reconsidering relationships, making new friends and making enemies of old ones. This is just the way the cycle of life goes.
In politics and government in Nigeria there is a slant to this thinking. Power is everything and the manner in qhich such power is used will make you many friends whilst you have it and many more enemies when you don’t.Former Delta State Governor James Ibori was once deemed an extremely powerful individual in Nigeria. A man that allegedly paved the way for a President to be installed, it has been said.
Today the story is very different. As James Ibori fights possibly the toughest battle of his life in the heat of the United Arab Emirates, to avoid extradition to the United Kingdom to face allegations of impropriety, the storm front at home in Nigeria is taking another shape.
With the removal of Governor Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan as Delta State governor, it seems the dismantling process of the James Ibori mystique is in full swing.
Let us take a step back and consider the shape of things before the shape of things to come.
The power James Ibori was said to have stemmed from high level political connections and the ability to meet the requirements of central government and anyone for that matter as the state was possibly the richest in the country.
A few things linger when we consider the allegations made against James Ibori at home but were not proven and seem to be the albatross around his neck today.
As an untouchable in Nigeria, James Ibori was said to be at the controls of the late Yar’Adua’s administration. The present President Goodluck Jonathan was Vice-President at the time.
It is a well-documented fact that the powers in the Niger Delta were not always happy with James Ibori. Chief Edwin Clarke has not made light of his dislike or distrust of James Ibori.
Today, President Goodluck Jonathan is in the seat and Chief Edwin Clarke is very relevant in the scheme of things. Today, James Ibori faces not only the likes of Chief Clarke in Nigeria but Her Majesty’s government in the UK.
Word on the street says that the removal of Uduaghan is the beginning of the dismantling of James Ibori’s influence in Delta State and the Niger Delta region but there are some missing links here for me.
Firstly, Uduaghan is expected to run again as he was the candidate of the PDP in the first case. Is there a possibility that Uduaghan will not be represented to the electorate by the party?
What then happens to the PDP slot in the rerun elections? Can Uduaghan be legally replaced with another candidate?
Secondly, the EFCC could not prosecute James Ibori successfully. Any and all charges against James Ibori in Nigeria could not stick. Whatever the reasons for that were, the records do not show that James Ibori was convicted of anything.
If that indeed is the case, where there is no legally registered conviction or proven allegation, what then is the basis for the UK case against James Ibori with regards to embezzlement and corruption in Nigeria?
If I have not cried foul, as Delta State should have done or if you have not proven any case against me by winning any of the cases brought before the Nigerian Judiciary system, what am I being tried for?
In my opinion, the UK government is well within its rights to prosecute James Ibori in the UK over allegations of fraud perpetrated in the UK at anytime if it finds enough compelling evidence to do so.
I am not so sure that trying James Ibori for allegations of fraud at home when there has been no case proven or any complaint by the victim, Delta State amounts to the same thing.
Word on the street is that James Ibori could not be successfully tried in Nigeria because of the influence he weilded in the country.
Further word says that the Delta State government could not and did not ‘complain’ as James Ibori retained influence there by proxy. The now removed Governor Uduaghan is said to be a cousin of James Ibori after having served under him as Secretary to the State Government, SSG, during Ibori’s tenure.
This now brings us to the removal of Governor Uduaghan after almost four years in power as governor of Delta State, post James Ibori.
In Nigeria, when all does not seem as it looks, it usually is so.
What took the judiciary and the elections tribunal and appeals system so long to decide that Uduaghan was not the valid winner of the elections that ushered him into power?
Why suddenly, with James Ibori out in the desert and probably now deserted by the friends he had when powerful and those he made wealthy at the time, is there a realization that the Uduaghan elections were invalid and full of malpratices?
Is this a further strengthening of the hands of the current administration at the centre and of those closer to the Niger Delta region?
Power does shift, even if marginally. One day you have it and can make or break, the next day it moves to someone else and you can be broken.
What happens to Uduaghan next will be very interesting to watch. If Uduaghan is not on the radar of those who seek to control the affairs of Delta State and the Niger Delta region, he will most likely return as the candidate of the ruling PDP when the ordered rerun of elections are held within 90 days.
If the removal of Uduaghan is a snippet of what is likely to amount to the dismantling of James Ibori’s influence in the region, Uduaghan had better start trading up or opting for a long self-imposed holiday on a beach somewhere in the world.
If Uduaghan does not return and the EFCC goes after him as some have advocated, then many others who surrounded James Ibori had better start making similar plans of exotic holidays in safe havens.
The questions that arise here are none to do with whether James Ibori is guilty or not, or whether Uduaghan is a possible accomplice to any crimes against the state or the people of Delta.
Some multiple questions I ask are on the length of prosecutions, failures to convict, use of powers to hunt down any perceived enemies of the government or threats to the nation and ofcourse the timing of certain decisions that may, I repeat may, smack of a ‘cleansing’ of sorts.
Will leadership at the center court Uduaghan to further entrench themselves in the state and region? Your guess is as good as mine.
If Uduaghan’s election victory was fraught with fraud and electoral malpractice, how much time does any governor need to plunder the treasury before he or she is removed, in a corrupt country like Nigeria?
If James Ibori is found to have embezzled Delta State funds, and knowing the manner in which government in Nigeria operates, it will be difficult to convince that Emmanuel Uduaghan as the then SSG and others who held high-ranking positions in his government, could not have been aware or not part of a conspiracy to defraud Delta State.
No single Nigerian leader at State or Federal level works in isolation to rob the treasury blind. What case then can the likes of Uduaghan make for innocence if a James Ibori is guilty?
It will be very interesting to see how the Delta State situation plays out. One thing is certain that the usual suspects of ‘allies’ and ‘friends of’ will emerge from their brief vacations.
What happens next to Uduaghan and in Delta State? What do you think?
