I have no Twitter account and I wasn't deported, says Ibori
Read the press statement below...
Chief James Onanefe Ibori wishes to inform the general public that he has no Twitter Account at all. In a press statement signed by Chief Ibori’s Media Assistant, Tony Eluemunor, the former Governor of Delta State explained that reports reached him Sunday afternoon that a Twitter handle in his name (@ChiefIbori), with his picture too, has been trending on the internet.
His media office immediately
reached out to some journalists such as to warn Nigerians not to fall victim to
the fraudster who created that Twitter Account for whatever reason. We can only
suspect that a confidence trickster must have created that account to lure
incredulous Nigerians into a 419 trap.
Please, Chief Ibori would like the
general public to disregard that account and to stop assessing the Twitter
handle over matters or discussions affecting him as he neither nor those
working for him created that Twitter handle or has ever commented on it. The Twitter administrators have been advised
to shut down the account and whenever Ibori sees the need to create a Twitter
account, the public would be so advised.
Second, Ibori wishes to correct the impression
created by some news reports that he was deported from the UK. He said: “Even
though I had wanted to publicise my return to Nigeria so that wrong meanings
would not be read into the public interest I knew my presence in Nigeria would
elicit, and also because I never wanted
any crowd that would gather because of me to disturb a single Nigerian in the
course of their duties, all my efforts to keep the trip secret failed. The airline
that brought me into Nigeria is public knowledge. So, too, my disembarkation
Airport.
So, it would be easy to verify that I
was not deported because the deporting country’s officials would always hand
over deportees to Nigerian Immigration officials and documents would also be
exchanged. Those who have chosen to report lies, and claim that I was deported
know that no document exists anywhere in the world to back up those malicious
claims.
Most of all, a record of documented
letters between Ibori’s solicitors and the British Home off exist which proves
beyond all reasonable doubts that Ibori was granted leave to exit Britain “voluntarily”,
and he announced, as was reported by both the Reuters and the BBC, and several
Nigerian news outlets that he would return to Nigeria in a matter of days. He
did not announce the exact day so as to avoid the situation that would result
in crowd control challenges for the security services.
Moreover, last week Tuesday, 31st
January Ibori confirmed in his last court appearance in Britain that he will
appeal his conviction because the trial was riddled with corruption and other
reasons.
The court could not fix a date for confiscation
hearing in deference to Ibori’s impending appeal, and so adjourned hearing till
17th March; so the confiscation hearing will not start till after
the appeal against Ibori’s conviction. This remains one of Ibori’s greatest
victories since the London case started.
Ibori's Counsel requested for the
adjournment in the hope that the appeal would have been filed before 17th
March, thereby putting the confiscation hearing on hold.
Signed: Tony Eluemunor
Ibori’s Media Assistant.
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