Posted by By MOLLY KILLTE Abuja, KENNY ASHAKA, Kaduna, EMMANUEL OGOIGBE, Warri on
Former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori on Thursday left the National Hospital, Abuja, where he had been admitted for treatment and returned to his cell room at the Kaduna Prisons.
Former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori on Thursday left the National Hospital, Abuja, where he had been admitted for treatment and returned to his cell room at the Kaduna Prisons.
Ibori, who is standing trial on 129-count charge of money laundering, abuse of office and corruption, was denied bail by the Federal High Court, Kaduna, presided over by Justice Lawal Shuaibu on December 17, 2007 and was remanded in Kaduna Prisons.
The former governor took ill and was moved to the National Hospital on Wednesday, allegedly on the directive of the Minister of Interior, Major General Godwin Abbe (retd) who was said to be concerned about Ibori's condition.
Ibori left the hospital at about 11.45 a.m on Thursday after series of laboratory tests had been conducted on him, including a cardiology test, which indicated a positive result.
Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Olusegun Ajuwon, therefore declared the former governor fit for discharge.
According to Ajuwon, the former governor had taken ill and was seen by a cardiologist in Kaduna, who required that some further investigations be conducted on him, due to the non-availability of the necessary equipment needed to carry out such investigations in Kaduna.
He said the hospital cardiologist went into action as soon as Ibori was brought in, but was unable to conclude the test until Thursday, adding that all the results indicated positive, prompting the management to discharge him.
Answering questions from journalists, Dr Ajuwon said: "The former governor was brought in here because the cardiologist that saw him in Kaduna required that a further investigation be carried out on him that was not available in Kaduna. That was the reason he came. Our own consultant saw him and ran some tests and we completed it this morning and we felt he was fit enough for discharge, so we discharged him this morning and he was in high spirit when he was going and I can tell you that he is fit to stand trial."
Ibori, wearing a kaftan, walked into a waiting Peugeot Export bus belonging to the Nigerian Prison Service. In the bus were also prison security officials, who chased away photo journalists who trooped into the hospital to get shots of Ibori.
The former governor returned to the prison at about 1:57pm.
An aide of the former governor, who would not want his name in print, told Daily Sun that Ibori was taken to the National Hospital for a certain medical test, saying, however, that his boss was not critically ill as was being speculated.
He said: 'Ibori is not very sick. In fact, he did not even want to be taken to the National Hospital, Abuja. His condition is stable; though his blood pressure is high, which should be expected in his situation.
'For somebody who was governor for eight years and as free as air, his blood pressure was expected to rise because he has never been confirmed to a place like this in his life."
Meanwhile, no fewer than 40 vehicles loaded with sympathizers on Thursday left Delta State for Kaduna in solidarity with Ibori, whose case comes up today at the Federal High Court Kaduna.
Investigation revealed that most of the sympathizers are from the 25 local government areas of the state, while the majority of them are from the Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ijaw, and Isoko ethnic groups.
It was gathered that each local government council donated one commercial bus to convey most of the numerous sympathizers, while some people preferred to travel in their own vehicles.