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Former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, yesterday reaffirmed his innocence of charges leveled against him in the U.K, where he recently served a jail term, saying, “I am not a thief.”
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Chief Ibori gave the clarification at a thanksgiving service organised in honour of him by the monarch and people of Oghara kingdom at the First Baptist Church, Oghara. .
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Speaking for the first time since his arrival after serving his jail term in London, Chief Ibori said: “Today, I have decided to speak for myself, I am not a thief, I cannot be a thief.
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Today is the day they say I should give testimony to God, for those that know me, you know that my entire life is a testimony itself and I have said it over and over again that my life is fashioned by God, directed by God, sealed, acknowledged, blessed by God and I believe that since the day I was born.
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Like the Arch Bishop said, when this whole commotion started, what was most painful to me was the pain and suffering that my people were going through.
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It has nothing to do with me as a person because for some reasons like I said to you, I drew my strength from God and somehow, I knew that God would stand by me, I knew that one day, and this day would come.
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I am indeed very pleased that I can now stand before you and look at your faces, faces that I have missed and those of you that have indeed suffered the pains of my absence. It has nothing to do with me.
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When I looked how things were going, I discovered that they want to separate me from you people. They want me to go to the corner where I will not be seen. That is how I see it.
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At a point, I called my elder brother (former Governor Uduaghan) that this is how I can get home, that this is what I am about to do now. It was a pragmatic decision. I am happy to be home with my people. There is nobody that can battle with the Lord.”
