SEVEN years after he left Nigeria, former Governor of Delta State, Chief James
Ibori, dressed in dark ash long sleeve shirt and navy blue jean trousers,
arrived his country home, Oghara, headquarters of Ethiope West Local Government
Area of the state, to a rousing welcome by his kinsmen, politicians, friends
and top functionaries of the state government, at about 3.20 pm, yesterday.
Human movement literally came to a halt at Oghara after his arrival from Benin
airport in the company of his associates, including his long-standing All
Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain ally, Chief Ayiri .
His entourage could
not disembark on arrival at Oghara because of the mammoth crowd until about
3.41pm, 21 minutes after he arrived, as not only the villagers, but political
associates and friends also flooded the country home. At exactly 3:45p.m, Ibori
came out of a black tinted Lexus Jeep in a whirl of screams and wild jubilation
from the crowd, which had defied security blockade, to catch a glimpse of the
man they refer to as the ‘father of politics’ in Delta State.
He waved to the
crowd as he sauntered out, meandering his way through the surging crowd and
went straight into his apartment where political associates, friends and chiefs
from Oghara had sat patiently awaiting his arrival. The former governor did not
speak to journalists at Oghara, Benin and Abuja, probably following an
understanding that he should not speak to the media to avoid overheating the
polity. Session with the DSS Ibori, who returned to Nigeria aboard a
British Airways flight, first landed at the Abuja International Airport and had
a session with the Director General, Department of State Services, DSS, Lawal
Daura, in the federal capital before he flew to Benin-City, Edo State.
Meanwhile, as politicians, friends and top government
functionaries were waiting for him at Osubi aiport, he arrived the Benin
airport at about 2:30 pm. Sunday Vanguard learned that the former governor’s
arrival at the Benin airport was even concealed from airport staffers until the
plane touched down. Before his arrival, seven black Prado jeeps and five Hilux
vans and about 10 Mobile Policemen arrived the airport to wait for him. Few of
his family members were said to be around to welcome him. When the aircraft
touched down, the former governor, it was learnt, waited for another 20 minutes
inside the aircraft to disembark with his luggage. Security operatives cordoned
off the VIP Lounge of the airport where he was welcomed by family
members. It was also observed that security operatives were on red alert
against photographs being taken, as they warned journalists to stay away. One
of his Ibori’s sisters insisted journalists they should not allow any photo
even when security operatives tried to give journalists that opportunity.
A security source
SAID that the plan was for the former governor to fly to the
Osubi airstrip, Warri, enroute to Oghara before the meeting with the DSS
altered the plan. The source said the DSS invited Ibori to its headquarers
immediately after he landed in Abuja where one of his daughters, his successor
in Asaba Government House, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and three other friends were
waiting to receive him. Narrating the arrival of the former governor, the
source said as soon as Ibori disembarked from the plane that brought him, he
and those that received him moved to the domestic wing of the Abuja airport
where a friend had made provision for a private jet to convey him to the
Osubi airstrip.
Immediately after
the prayer session, he was said to have retreated into his bedroom, freshened
up, came out dressed in white singlet and went to the dining table, flanked by
the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya. The
former governor and his guests then ate a meal of starch and Banga soup. As at
4:58 pm, government dignitaries from the state were seen trooping into Ibori’s
residence to rejoice with him.
Speaking on the former governor’s return, an
erstwhile governorship aspirant in Delta State, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, said: “I
am overwhelmed with the arrival of the doyen of Nigeria politics and Delta
State in particular because he is one man, who plays politics for the benefit
of his people. And the best politicians in the world are those who play
politics of development. “His return is more of interest to Deltans as a
whole, whether PDP or APC. I do not ascribe Ibori arrival to the benefit of Urhobo
alone, but the state as a whole. His arrival is proof that God is good,” he
said. A former Secretary of the State Oil Producing Areas Development
Commission, DESOPADEC, Chief Andy Osawota, said: “Ibori is the man on ground,
either here or in limbo, he has affected all and takes everybody along without
discrimination.
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