Disgraced former governor plans his next move

Disgraced former Nigerian Governor James Ibori, who has returned to his homeland after serving time in the UK, is expected to remain an important player in the cut-throat world of Nigerian politics. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Ibori, who was jailed for money laundering and fraud in a landmark anti-corruption case, returned to his homeland on Saturday last week. He was jailed in April 2012 for fraud amounting to nearly $78.5m following drawn-out extradition proceedings and his evasion of arrest and prosecution in Nigeria. He had fled to Dubai in 2010, from where he was extradited to Britain. Ibori has vowed to appeal his conviction. A report on the News24 site notes that his case was seen as a landmark in the fight against high-level international corruption, with billions of pounds of illicit cash said to be channelled through Britain every year. Power is widely seen as an end in itself in Nigeria and claims of corruption and conflict of interest are rarely a bar to high office. ‘Politics is in his blood,’ his former adviser Ighoyota Amori reportedly told AFP. ‘He will for now take a short rest before deciding on the next line of action.’