A group known as the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership,
CACOL, on Tuesday, claimed that the former governor of Delta State,
James Ibori was one of those who allegedly inspired the comment of
ex-British Prime Minister, David Cameron, when he said “Nigeria is
fantastically corrupt.”
CACOL made the remark while reacting to the celebration that greeted Ibori’s return to the country last weekend.
The Oghara-born politician, who was recently released after completing his jail term in the UK, arrived the country on Saturday amid celebrations from people of Delta State.
Reacting to the celebration, CACOL described the ‘euphoria’ that
greeted Ibori’s return as a “show of shame that debases humanism.”
A statement signed by its Media Coordinator, Wale Salami and sent to
DAILY POST, reads, “It is sad and disheartening to see human beings so
audaciously being ripped of their humanism; the very basis of their
existence, out of the ‘inadvertent’ need to cope with the socio-economic
and political reality of the society imposed by the incurably corrupt
ruling class elements like Ibori. It is like the hunted protecting the
hunter; victims celebrating their victimizers out of total dislocation
with the empirical reality of their social existence and proper
introspection.
“We are talking about an ex-convict that has through his nefarious
and corrupt activities dragged the image of the country as a whole in
the mud of global shame. Ibori, we believe, is one those who inspired
the infamous statement of the former Prime Minister of the UK, David
Cameron that described Nigeria as a country that is ‘fantastically’
corrupt.”
They believe those openly celebrating the “ex-convict” are trying to
turn him into a ‘hero’, so he could go back to “playing his so-called
‘Robinhood’ role while walking free and shoulders-high in spite of
committing corruption crimes of incredible proportions.
“Beneficiaries’ as the celebrators may be; they do not represent the
rule of law, the will or opinion of Nigerians about the obligation and
absolute necessity to prosecute Ibori and others like him for their
corruption crimes with deserving punitive applied where culpability is
established.
“We also point out that the ‘welcome carnival’ is a manifestation of a
tendency that can never spell any good for socio-cultural, economic and
political development because the trend is predicated on corruption and
abysmal disregard for core values and morals.
“So unlike of the spokespersons of that obnoxious tendency, who say
‘Ibori’s coming is a beginning of so many good things to come’, we say
that his return can only mean good when he has answered to all the
corruption cases against him judicially and gets penalized on all counts
where his culpability is affirmed.
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