THE appeal by former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, will be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in the new year, sources at the courts told The Guardian Monday.
Ibori, who was jailed in April at the Southwark Crown Court by Mr. Justice Anthony Pitts, is currently serving his 13-year jail sentence at Her Majesty's Prison in Long Lartin, South Littleton, Worchestershire, for money laundering and theft of £50 million during his two- term tenure as governor of the oil-rich state between 1999 and 2007.
It will be recalled that Ibori successfully launched a legal challenge to appeal his sentence - not the verdict - prior to the confiscation of assets hearing in September.
He then won the right to challenge the length of his sentence, and after about three months of waiting for the case to come before an Appeal Judge, his case is within sight and, though no specific date has been pencilled down for it to be heard, January looks more like it, three Royal Courts of Justice sources disclosed to The Guardian Monday.
