Obaseki revokes C of O of Ibori’s land in Benin

Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, has revoked the certificate of occupancy of a property on plot 103A Aiguobasimwin crescent in Benin, capital of the state belonging to James Ibori, a former governor of Delta.

Obaseki said he revoked the property in exercise of the power conferred on him by sections (28) 1 and 38 of the land use decree of 1978 and by virtue of all other laws enabling him on that behalf.

Obaseki, who signed the revocation order, said the property contained an area of approximately 1985.950 square meters.

A United Kingdom court sentenced Ibori to prison after convicting him of fraud and money laundering in 2012.

The former governor ended his jail term in 2016 and returned to Nigeria the following year.

In January, the UK launched a fresh bid to confiscate “proceeds of loot” in the £117 million worth of properties linked to the former governor.

British prosecutors had made the first attempt to confiscate his assets, said to be proceeds of crime, during his jail term but failed as a result of unresolved legal issues.

Jonathan Kinnear, a British prosecutor, was quoted to have said the total value of the “known proceeds of his (Ibori’s) crimes” is £117 million (equivalent of about N55.4 billion) but that “only a portion of that sum is likely to be recoverable.”