Ribadu tells British court how Ibori offered him $15mn bribe

A former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Commission
(EFCC),Nuhu Ribadu,on Thursday told a British Crown Court in London
how former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, tried to bribe him
with $15 million (N2.25 billion) in cash to halt fraud investigations
against him.
Mr. Ribadu told the court that the bag containing the money was so
heavy that it could not be carried by one person.
He said he pretended to have accepted the bribe but instead instructed
that it should be taken to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) so that
it could be used as evidence against Mr. Ibori who is serving a
13-year jail sentence for money laundering.
"He was very desperate to terminate the investigation," he told the court
Mr. Ribadu told the court how in April 2007, Mr. Ibori arrived at the
house of Andy Uba, an associate of former President Olusegun Obasanjo,
with several members of his staff and a very large black sack
containing $15 million in cash.
The former anti-corruption chief described how two of Mr. Ibori's men
lifted the heavy sack and handed it over to his own EFCC staff.
"It was a bag that an individual could not carry alone," he said.
The EFCC men drove the bag to the central bank where the money was
counted and boxed into smaller containers.
The court was shown photographs of the boxes of cash.
"I have given you money Nuhu, just give me my clearance," Mr. Ribadu
quoted Mr. Ibori as saying.
The crown prosecutor, Sasha Wass, had told the court on Monday that
Mr. Ribadu would testify about attempted bribe by Mr. Ibori in the
asset revocation hearing called by prosecutor to confiscate Mr.
Ibori's asset.
According to Mr. Ribadu, Delta State received about N150 billion ($1
billion) from 1999 to 2007 when Mr. Ibori was governor of the state.
He said more than half of that amount was either wasted or stolen by
Mr. Ibori.
Mr. Ibori pleaded guilty to theft of about $80 million, but British
prosecutors say that was only part of his loot. Mr. Ibori had hidden
most of the money he stole in a complex web of front men, shell
companies and offshore accounts.
Mr. Ribadu also told the court how he was sacked as chairman of the
EFCC just 15 days after Mr. Ibori was arrested.
He also told the court how he survived two assassination attempts and
how he fled the country after the second attempt through a bush path.
He said he used a motorcycle to move across the border to Benin before
he took an Air France flight to Paris and finally to the U.K. where
he was sheltered at the Oxford University.