The court rejected Ibori’s challenge on Tuesday, November 3, according to Reuters. The former governor had asked the court to reduce the amount by approximately £4.3 million ($5.8 million).
The confiscation order was issued by Southwark Crown Court in July 2023, directing Ibori to pay the sum immediately or face an additional eight-year prison sentence in default.
The appeal had stalled enforcement of the order, but the latest ruling clears the way for confiscation proceedings to continue unless Ibori takes the matter to the UK Supreme Court.
Speaking to Reuters after the judgment, Ibori said he was consulting his lawyers over the possibility of a further appeal. He also expressed frustration over the prolonged legal battle, saying: “Give me a break.”
Ibori served as governor of Delta State between 1999 and 2007. He subsequently left Nigeria for Dubai but was extradited to the United Kingdom in 2011.
In 2012, a British court convicted him after he pleaded guilty to laundering tens of millions of dollars in public funds through properties and financial institutions in the UK.
He was sentenced to 13 years in prison and released in late 2016 after serving approximately half of his sentence, including time spent in custody before and after his trial. He returned to Nigeria in early 2017.
The confiscation proceedings followed investigations by anti-corruption authorities in Nigeria and Britain. In 2020, British prosecutors initiated proceedings to recover assets valued at approximately £117 million linked to the former governor.
Three years later, in July 2023, Judge David Tomlinson ordered Ibori to surrender £101.5 million, citing the court’s findings on assets traced to him.
At the time, Ibori described the decision as difficult to comprehend and accept. He maintained that prosecutors had failed to establish that funds were stolen from Delta State and accused the judge of disregarding evidence and arguments presented by his legal team.
He also questioned the requirement to make immediate payment, arguing that selling the restrained assets could take several months. According to him, the eight-year default prison sentence could become an issue if the proceeds from the asset sales failed to cover the full amount.
Meanwhile, in 2021, the British government returned £4.2 million recovered from Ibori’s former wife and sister to Nigeria under a memorandum of understanding signed by both countries in March of that year.
