Britain’s aid to Africa has been questioned after a London court was shown the opulent home of a former politician who was jailed for stealing tens of millions of pounds from his country.
The court was shown a video of James Ibori's marble-columned mansion Photo: PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP
A court was yesterday shown a video of marble-columned mansion belonging to
James Ibori, the former governor of the oil-rich Delta State in Nigeria, who
was last year found guilty of channeling money from his country's finances
into his own bank accounts.
The Metropolitan Police, which investigated Ibori, estimates his regime stole
£157m from Nigerian public funds, of which Ibori took a personal share of
£50m. Two-thirds of Nigerians live on less than one pound a day.
There were allegations CDC, a private enterprise fund backed by the Department
for International Development, had invested in companies linked to Ibori.
The footage of Ibori's mansion in the capital Abuja, taken by Nigeria’s
economic and financial crimes commission, showed vast reception rooms lit
with crystal chandeliers, gilded mirrors and marble tables.
A directory of telephone extensions on the estate included the “children’s
parlour” and “staff house”. The property had chauffeurs, cooks, housekeepers
and a “TV man”.
Footage of the master bedroom, screened at a confiscation hearing in London
that will seek to freeze Ibori’s assets, showed an enormous bed with an
ornate silver and velvet headboard, facing a flat-screen television with
four free-standing speakers.
Outside the house were parked a Range Rover with TV screens in the seat backs, a red Lexus and a Toyota pick-up truck. Invoices for Louis Vuitton, the French handbag maker, could also be seen.
Ibori, who rose from a DIY store attendant in London to one of the most powerful men in Nigeria’s ruling party, is now serving a 13-year sentence at Long Lartin maximum security prison.
He was tried in the UK after laundering the money through secret accounts and companies in London, Switzerland and Panama. He bought four homes in Britain, including a £2m mansion in Hampstead, and sent his daughters to a British boarding school.
DfID insists no British aid money was stolen by Ibori, and stressed the Metropolitan Police’s investigation was funded by the department. But Sir Gerald Howarth, a former defence minister, said the Ibori case showed why Nigeria does not require support from British taxpayers.
Britain will give nearly £1bn in aid to Nigeria over the course of the Coalition government. The funds are earmarked for education projects, HIV and Malaria treatments and “wealth creation”.
“Not all Nigerians are corrupt but corruption is endemic in Nigeria,” Sir Gerald, the MP for Aldershot, said.
“I think hard-pressed British taxpayers just will not understand why it is that we continue to shell out so much money in overseas aid to countries like Nigeria. People at home are having to make sacrifices.
“At a time of austerity we really should be looking to cut aid and not increase it, and it is increasing by £2.5 billion this year alone.”
DfID said the allegations linking CDC to Ibori dated back to 2009 and were investigated and passed to the Metropolitan Police and the Serious Fraud office. There was no indication British funds were misused, it said.
Outside the house were parked a Range Rover with TV screens in the seat backs, a red Lexus and a Toyota pick-up truck. Invoices for Louis Vuitton, the French handbag maker, could also be seen.
Ibori, who rose from a DIY store attendant in London to one of the most powerful men in Nigeria’s ruling party, is now serving a 13-year sentence at Long Lartin maximum security prison.
He was tried in the UK after laundering the money through secret accounts and companies in London, Switzerland and Panama. He bought four homes in Britain, including a £2m mansion in Hampstead, and sent his daughters to a British boarding school.
DfID insists no British aid money was stolen by Ibori, and stressed the Metropolitan Police’s investigation was funded by the department. But Sir Gerald Howarth, a former defence minister, said the Ibori case showed why Nigeria does not require support from British taxpayers.
Britain will give nearly £1bn in aid to Nigeria over the course of the Coalition government. The funds are earmarked for education projects, HIV and Malaria treatments and “wealth creation”.
“Not all Nigerians are corrupt but corruption is endemic in Nigeria,” Sir Gerald, the MP for Aldershot, said.
“I think hard-pressed British taxpayers just will not understand why it is that we continue to shell out so much money in overseas aid to countries like Nigeria. People at home are having to make sacrifices.
“At a time of austerity we really should be looking to cut aid and not increase it, and it is increasing by £2.5 billion this year alone.”
DfID said the allegations linking CDC to Ibori dated back to 2009 and were investigated and passed to the Metropolitan Police and the Serious Fraud office. There was no indication British funds were misused, it said.
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