Ibori’s $15 million bribe: I’m not part of the transaction, it only happened in my house – Uba.

 

Andy Uba on Friday denied ownership of the controversial $15m bribe, saying he merely allowed former Delta State governor, James Ibori to use his house to deliver the money to a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu.

 But Mr Uba, who was a special assistant to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on Domestic Affairs from 1999 – 2006, said in an emailed statement by his aide, Chike Okeke, in Abuja that he gave the money to the then EFCC Director of Operations, Ibrahim Lamorde.

Mr Uba said, “When I was in the Presidency, my house in the Villa was a convenient place for many top people in Nigeria to come.
“Probably, Chief Ibori didn’t want to go to the EFCC office to hand over the money and so decided to use my house.
“All I know about this matter is that Chief James Ibori brought some money to the then EFCC chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
“The details of the transaction were undisclosed to me at the time. The money was handed to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu who invited his then Director of Operations, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, to fetch it.
“I was never a party to the transaction between Ibori and Ribadu. That my house was used as the venue for the transaction is not in question as an affidavit to that effect has been sworn to by the current EFCC chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, which is probably the point of confusion.
“I hereby state unequivocally that I have no involvement in this matter beyond that stated above.
“So, I’m not involved and will not be involved in this matter. Nobody should drag me into it please.”
The sum, which Mr Ibori allegedly offered the EFCC as bribe to compromise its investigations by the anti-graft agency, has been kept in the strong room of the Central Bank of Nigeria as an unclaimed property since August 2007.
Following an ex parte motion by the EFCC, an Abuja Federal High Court on July 25, 2012, granted an interim order forfeiting the $15 million to the Federal Government.
The court, presided by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, ordered that if nobody steps forward to claim the money within 14 days, it would be finally forfeited to the Federal Government when the motion on notice for final forfeiture comes up for hearing on September 17, 2012.