Ibori Will Appeal Ruling Of Benin Court Of Appeal, Says Aide

BEVERLY HILLS, CA, May 15, (THEWILL) â€' Embattled former governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, is to appeal Thursday's ruling of the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City which quashed his earlier victory at the Federal High Court. Ibori's media aide, Tony Eluemunor, who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday said the former Delta governor has already asked his lawyers to head for the Supreme Court to appeal the ruling of the Benin-City Court of Appeal.

In the statement signed by Eluemunor, Ibori said that despite his travails, he has remained an unfailing believer in the rule of law, especially the courts. According to the statement, the decision of the Federal High Court in Asaba, which the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin has just struck down, was perhaps the most politicised in Nigerian history, with crass politicians not hiding their interests and sundry commentators opinionating on otherwise purely matters of law â€' yet refusing to refer to the judgement while pouring out their sectarian creeds.

'Yet, Ibori, a believer in the rule of law and freedom of the courts, will not stoop as low as those who flagellate judges whose decisionsthey not like, openly or through innuendos, impute any misdeeds on the part of the panel of Justices who decided the case.'

'In pursuit of this undying belief, he has instructed his lawyers to, without delay, take the next legal step by referring the matter to the apex court in the land.'

'Chief Ibori has also called on his supporters everywhere to remain calm as they have always done since his political persecution began,' the statement added