Five-time Delta State Senator, James Manager, seen kneeling before ex Gov. James Ibori

The five times Senator, James Manager of Delta South Senatorial District was seen kneeling before ex-Gov. James Ibori in a viral photo. Although the reason why the senator was kneeling before the ex-Governor was not known many reports has it that the senator was begging because he has an aspiration to be the next Governor of Delta State.

The viral picture however generated a lot of controversy as well as reactions from Nigeria, due to the fact that James Ibori who has several corruption charges against him and was convicted in the UK for money laundering still wields political power and serve as a Godfather in the PDP branch of the state.

James Ibori who was Governor of Delta State from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007 was charged with theft of public funds, abuse of office, and money laundering following his arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja, on the 12th of December 2007.

Nuhu Ribadu the then chairman of EFCC additionally alleged that Ibori attempted to bribe him to drop the charges with a cash gift of $15 million, which Ribadu immediately lodged in the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN. The cash remains in the CBN as an exhibit. On December 17, 2009, A Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State, discharged and acquitted Ibori of all 170 charges of corruption brought against him by EFCC.

In April 2010, about three months after the take over of government by former President Goodluck Jonathan, Ibori’s case file was reopened. A new allegation that he embezzled N40 billion ($266 million) was pressed against him. Attempts to arrest him were unsuccessful. It was reported that he fled from Abuja to Lagos and then to the creeks of Oghara, his homeland in the Niger Delta.

In April 2010, Ibori fled Nigeria, prompting the EFCC to request the assistance of Interpol. On 12 July 2010 the Governor of the CBN, Malam Sanusi Lamido revealed that Ibori had used Delta State as collateral for N40 billion loan when he was governor.

On 13 May 2010, Ibori was arrested in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates under Interpol arrest warrants, issued from United Kingdom courts and enacted by the Metropolitan Police. The ex-Governor was extradited to the United Kingdom where he was accused of stealing US$250 million from the Nigerian public purse.

Ibori pleaded guilty to ten counts of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced to 13 years in prison on the  17th of April, 2012 by the Southwark Crown Court in London. He returned to Nigeria Nigeria in December 2016 after he served 4 years of the 13 years to which he was sentenced