MEMBERS of the Oghara community in Delta State have appealed to the British government to release their kinsman Chief James Ibori claiming that it was his clamour for fiscal federalism to that led to his incarceration.
In 2012, Chief Ibori was sentenced to 13 years in jail by Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to money laundering and corruption. He has since been in prison in the UK and it is believed he may be released in December this year.
Yesterday, however, the Oghara 2016 Summit held in Asaba, the Delta State capital and after the gathering, community leaders alleged that it was Chief Ibori’s clamour for fiscal federalism to enable the people of the Niger Delta region to control their resources that led to his incarceration in a British jail. This allegation is contained in an 11-point communiqué issued at the end of the summit, during which delegates lauded the former governor for his foresight in developing Delta State.
Their communiqué was signed by an elder brother to the former governor and the Unugbrogodo of Ogharefe, Chief Williams Ibori, the Unugbrogodo of Oghareki Chief Williams Usabor and the summit chairman Chief Emmanuel Ighomena. It decried the continued neglect of the Oghara Independent Power Plant (IPP).
In the communiqué, the people of Oghara Kingdom in the Ethiope West Council Area of the state also lauded Chief Ibori, who was a governor from 1999 to 2007, for laying the foundation for the state development. Also, the summit, which was attended by indigenes of Oghara Kingdom in the Ethiope West Council Area of the state, adopted an economic framework for the development of the kingdom.
“Despite his good works for which he was lauded by all and sundry, the travails of our son, Chief Ibori, is mainly the fallout of his unrelenting stand and clamour for fiscal federalism through the control of resources of the Niger Delta by her people. We therefore unequivocally call for his immediate and unconditional release by the British government,” the communique read.
It called on the current administration in the state to expedite action towards ensuring that the abandoned IPP project was concluded, saying it had the capacity to produce 138 megawatts of electricity on completion. Also, delegates called on the Urhobo Progress Union, the umbrella body in the area, of which Oghara is an integral part, to put its house in order to strengthen the unity and progress of the entire Urhobo nation.
“Also, the summit calls for the teaching of the Urhobo language at all levels of educational institutions in Urhoboland in order to forestall its extinction so that our children will understand, fluently speak and write the Urhobo language,” the communique added.
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