In view of the attention the judgment of Justice Marcel Awokulehin of the Asaba Federal High Court has attracted globally, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC wishes to state the following facts regarding the decision of the court to quash all the 170 count charge against a former governor of Delta  State, Mr. James Onanefe Ibori and others.

1.    We remain committed to our earlier statement that the judgment is bound to fail on appeal at a higher court.

2.    Our lawyers have the instruction of the EFCC Chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri soon after the ruling was delivered on Thursday December 17, to obtain a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment. It will interest the public that our lawyers applied for the CTC before leaving the court room to enable us file an appeal today, Friday December 18. Surprisingly, our lawyer was denied a copy of the same judgment the judge claimed in the open court was ready several weeks ago.

3.    In spite of this obvious challenge, our lawyers have been instructed to file a notice of appeal on Monday December 21 based on  the records taken in the court.

4.    We also wish to state that the proceedings in Asaba originated from Kaduna where the charges were first filed in December 2007. The same charges were only referred to Asaba for trial.

5.    Unfortunately, the accused refused to take plea and instead raised objections to the charges.

6.    It is important to note that the matter was not tried, no evidence was led or taken by the court. The ruling was based merely on charges and proof of evidence.

7.     The accused have only been discharged and not acquitted.  As such, we are convinced that the case is not over yet as we are determined to take it to a logical conclusion, not withstanding the obstacles being brought our way.

           Femi Babafemi
           Head, Media & Publicity

           18/12/09