The embattled former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori, will be sentenced on Monday by the Southwark Crown Court in London.
The court had on February 27 fixed April 16 and 17 for the sentencing of the ex-governor of the oil-rich state after he pleaded guilty to 10 counts charges of money-laundering and conspiracy to defraud.
Sunday Mirror recalls that Ibori decided on a plea bargain agreement with the UK police to shorten the case and get a lighter sentence in return.
Sunday Mirror gathered that Britain has reportedly spent over £14 million in pursuing the case while legal charges were equally eating into Ibori’s fortunes.
Ibori had been entangled in legal battles with the au-thorities in Nigeria, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom in the past four years.
His travails began in 2007 when he was arrested by the Nuhu Ribadu-led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
In the United Kingdom, the British police accused the flamboyant former governor of stealing about N60 billion (£250m or $400m) during his eight-year reign as governor from 1999 to 2007.
But the former governor was discharged and acquitted of the over 70 charges preferred against him by the EFCC before a Federal High Court in Asaba, the state’s Capital.
The former governor enjoyed a temporary reprieve before he was rearrested in Dubai on a British warrant in 2010 and then extradited.
In 2007, a UK court froze assets allegedly belonging to him worth $35 million.
His wife, Nkoyo; sister, Christine Ibori-Ibie; mistress, Udoamaka Okoronkwo; and London-based solicitor, Bhadresh Gohil, were all convicted of money-launder offences in earlier trials.
Meanwhile, top officials of the Delta State Government and politicians in the state have moved to London to witness tomorrow’s end of the protracted legal battle.
Sunday Mirror gathered that those already in London included pro and anti-Ibori politicians.
It was further learnt that officials of the state government were in the UK in solidarity with the man who made it possible for their benefactor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, to emerge as the chief executive of the state in the 2007 election.