I must necessarily start by congratulating Goodluck Jonathan for listening to me on the matter of Ibori’s London trial. In “Any Deal between Jonathan, Ibori-Uduaghan” recently published by various media organs home and abroad I opened that topic this way: “We all love Goodluck Jonathan, and yours sincerely has arguably done more pro-GEJ articles (published home and abroad) than anybody since Atiku emptied his political campaigns of sanity. But honestly the issue of Jonathan’s sudden silence about Ibori and equally sudden romance with Uduaghan, who hitherto has fought against him because of Ibori, his cousin and mentor, a man sane community of humanity and mankind want prosecuted without any successful buy off as in other cases before now, is a matter of hurting concern. Therefore, I beg to write differently today!”
And I sailed out to tell Jonathan why Ibori must first go to London NOW to be tried and the implications for Deltans and for his (Jonathan’s) ambition if this was not done NOW. We do not intend to reproduce that work here except to say presently that it recommends itself as a must read anytime, and to appreciate Jonathan’s prompt reaction to it.
Before we go ahead I must necessarily here preempt the purpose of this piece which is that: opportunity now beckons Deltans not only to renew their mandate for Ogboru in the April 26, 2011 gubernatorial election in Delta State but to ensure that no one frustrates this mandate this time around. Deltans have had enough of rubbish and international disgrace. All that must come to an end now. What follows immediately after now down to the concluding posers justify this position.
The very disgusting ‘gist’ is that Ibori among other things now has to answer for Deltans $34 million or about N5 billion in far away London, being part of our monies (something perhaps like a tip of the iceberg) he stacked up in the U.K. We are blank for now about the total sum stacked up in other places say South Africa (where grapevine has said so much about), UAE (that is now his home after the twelve years or so of Ibori-Uduaghan siege on our treasuries). And you may go on and on. Our monies! How inexpressibly sad!
If you remember that Emmanuel Uduaghan was secretary to Ibori’s so-called government you do not need to be told that Ibori couldn’t have done all the profligately financial acts in government without the secretary to his government. The office of the SSG is, in fact, the engine room of government. Whatever it allowed is carried out; whatever it does not allow is not done; whatever is done is known to it; and whatever it covers actually remains buried! Besides it being the summary of governance, it is supposed to be the chief secretariat to all secretariats including the finance ministry.
And if you also remember that before Ibori left his usurped office (and that was because of the collapse of OBJ’s third term agenda which Ibori and colleagues supported because it was their joint agenda actually) he ‘anointed’ and then ‘appointed’ Uduaghan to take over the office of governor from him ostensibly to cover his (Ibori’s) track, then you may take it from me that Uduaghan is more than an accomplice in Ibori’s games: He (Uduaghan) was actually the strength and confidence of Ibori in all that we now know of Ibori from when Uduaghan became his SSG to date.
And it may even be more than that. I have come to take grapevine very seriously in the matter of Ibori and now of Uduaghan. Almost all that has been reaching us over the years as news about Ibori have actually been thoroughly detailed on our streets in Delta; that is, before they became banner headlines and screaming headlines. The sweeping news right now (and it has really been there for more than a year now) is that Uduaghan is stinking rich. Almost unbelievable things are freely told on the streets about the wealth of his family with specific mention of his young children. Well, there is no smoke without fire they say. Ibori’s ‘fire’ came first as smoke. And we told the world repeatedly that there is fire under that smoke; when it became inferno and conflagration we also wrote, but it took so many years and, now, with the help of London for us to believe. Meanwhile, some of us did these at the expense of our lives and businesses. There were serious attempts to cow us. When we felt the heat of the threat some of us went under; yours sincerely for instance made a quick and fast one to Lagos and remained under cover for a long time. I mean in this battle to free Delta! My losses? Wait a minute!
Today, the threat seems again to be coming from Uduaghan’s camp. Recently Uduaghan, through his Consultant, Public Communication and Strategy responded to one of my widely published piece with a full page advertorial in the Vanguard of February 8, 2011. I countered his response with a series of four articles. In one of those counter-responses, “Ogboru: Uduaghan’s Rejoinder and Grammar” which, again, was widely published home and abroad I wrote inter alia: “The last word Mr. Consultant abused is provoked. He said conclusively, in bold letters and with an exclamation: “We refuse to be provoked!” By doing a rejoinder are Uduaghan and Mr. Consultant not provoked already? What is ‘provoked’, and what is ‘rejoinder’? Does he know that provoke means to incite something, cause activity, stir somebody to response or to elicit response? Has my piece not caused them to do all of that already: incited them, caused them to act, stirred their response and elicited their response? The piece prompted or provoked them to react. They acted! Okay, let’s take it they mean they do not want to feel angry, another meaning we can associate with provoke. But that was what they actually revealed all through the full-page ad. They were angry and agitated all through. They paraded irritation throughout from intro to final period!
“But hold it: Mr. Consultant may mean another level of anger that reveals itself in assassination and bloodshed! Because this has been the rule in governance in Delta State since 1999 and which made some of us fled the state, and that included yours sincerely who started writing then from Lagos as a result and that before he could settled down again in Delta State he has lost all his businesses in the state, the Nigerian Police and SSS must here be notified! For our sake let the Federal Government security agencies endeavor to be on the qui vive (alert and vigilant). But let this be well understood however: We refuse to be cowed! After all the one (their grandmaster) who then made us run for our dear lives is today receiving just retribution just as his flight violently collided with the long arm of the law and dumped him at ‘point of no return’”.
So, after this present attempt to scare and intimidate us, will the fire underneath the smoke that grapevine talks about be seen by the world like Ibori’s own did? Has it even become an inferno? Who knows! And if we must not believe grapevine yet, (even though it also says that EFCC is playing it cautiously with the man till some appropriate time) what can we say about the news implicating or indicting Uduaghan in the Ibori London saga. Street Journal reported it then, and in my 32page published document, “A-Z of Delta State Sorry Story!” I said Street Journal did report it, and I went ahead to draw from it; and I must here restate:
“The Street Journal (Sunday, 07 November 2010) reported that Uduaghan is indicted in Ibori’s money laundering case. It states that ‘the present Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has been named as one of the accomplices of his predecessor in the on-going money laundering trial.’ The prosecuting team led by Ms. Sasha Wass in her closing statement before the London Southwark Crown court o
n the morning of Saturday, 06 November 2010 told the court ‘that Dr. Uduaghan, SSG in Chief Ibori’s regime, facilitated some illicit deals. The Lead Prosecutor, Ms. Sasha Wass disclosed to the court that Dr. Uduaghan authorized most of the heavily over-inflated contracts that went to one of Ibori’s front companies (Sagicom Ltd). She also told the court that most of the contracts were for N1.8 billion or above, including for the supply of fine wine and beverages. Dr. Uduaghan was also alleged by the British prosecutors to have personally used his office as the Secretary to the State Government to authorize payments that were made to Christine Ibie-Ibori, sister to former Governor James Ibori.’
“According to the Lead Prosecutor, the payments made included one of £69,000 and another of £79,000. Reference was also made to N39 million in cash, which was allegedly delivered to James Ibori’s sister in two boxes. The prosecutor said that a company called KOLN was used to transfer funds out of Nigeria for the benefit of the governor’s sister, and into her account. It is an open secret that Governor Uduaghan and Chief Ibori enjoyed a very good relationship while they served in government together. Street Journal ‘also gathered that while Chief Ibori’s country home has been repainted, the Delta State Government had already planned a rousing welcome for him in anticipation that he would be allowed to return to Nigeria from Dubai. The expectation however fell through as the Dubai court hearing his case ruled in favour of Ibori’s extradition.’”
In the light of this work so far what can we say to the following posers because whether relevant Federal agencies like it or not they are posers Delta electorate will be answering on the 26th of April 2011? Should the Secretary to the Government of Ibori be allowed to govern Delta when under his watch as Secretary to government Ibori made mess of us all or when under his watch as Secretary to government he allowed or ostensibly connived with Ibori to mess us up. Should Uduaghan be allowed to govern Delta when London is fighting the battle he (Uduaghan) swept under the carpet as Secretary to government? Can the Secretary to the Government of Ibori allow Ibori to mess our treasuries this much, and him not being a partaker or beneficiary in anyway? Should Ibori be accounting for ‘missing’ monies from our treasuries when Uduaghan was Secretary of government and at the same time allow Uduaghan to sit over that treasury today as helmsman?
Should Ibori be facing the battle of his life (a battle that has already consumed many) and Uduaghan who is already implicated in the same matter be allowed to have his usual way here on April 26, 2011 so that he can extend some dubious immunity, and not go to either exonerate himself in London or otherwise? Should Emmanuel Uduaghan, the cousin of Ibori, who Ibori imposed on us as governor after him to cover his track be allowed to govern us even when London has come to fight for Deltans because Nigeria refused to fight for us hitherto? Should Uduaghan who has been frustrating the people’s mandate just as his boss did (because they both are actually having or pursuing the same agenda) and so preventing Ogboru from coming on board to cleanse the Augean stable that both men (Ibori and Uduaghan) and their myrmidons created still be allowed to frustrate our mandate?
Deltans already know that a resounding ‘NO’ is the answer to all of that. Now, another opportunity beckons to vote out Ibori and his proxies and vestiges again; and with the environment being created by Goodluck Jonathan and the present INEC and security outfits, and civil society groups: Deltans must make sure that their mandate stands THIS TIME AROUND. Enough is enough!
P.S. When Nigerians and Deltans went to the polls last April 16, 2011 for the presidential election, Ibori was appearing same day for the first time in the London court to answer for part of the rot he occasioned in Delta with the connivance of some. That day democracy won at home. Jonathan was elected as I said he would if he takes Ibori to the London court NOW. I actually said then that not to do so would rubbish Jonathan’s anti-corruption credentials; and that voters will be going to the polls on April 16, 2011 with ‘corruption’ as the main issue in their mind. I also said something else then why Jonathan must take Ibori to that court NOW and I leave readers to decipher it; except to also remind, (and that to be deciphered is impliedly made easier) here that as Nigerians and Deltans go to the polls on April 26, 2011 to elect their governors, Ibori will be appearing the second time in court the same day. The message is clear and one can roll out a volume on that, but there is no compelling need now to do that for we trust that Deltans out there have fully grabbed the main point already. I trust! So, let democracy win April 26, 2011, and let’s follow it up conclusively!
And lest we forget: The anticipated news is that Great Ogboru and Deltans may have won the Delta gubernatorial re-run suit before that date! That is because having invoked figures from ‘Mars’ and ‘Jupiter’ all in an attempt to take cover under immunity, Emmanuel Uduaghan has a grim battle with what is known in classics as obscurum per obscurius – (explaining) the obscure by means of the more obscure.
