By TheDailyNewsHub Reporter
A United Kingdom Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by former Delta State Governor James Ibori seeking to reduce a £101.5 million (approximately $136.05 million) asset confiscation order imposed following his conviction for fraud and money laundering.
The ruling, delivered on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, leaves the confiscation order made by Southwark Crown Court in July 2023 unchanged.
Ibori had challenged the calculation of the order, seeking a reduction of approximately £4.3 million, arguing that an inflation adjustment applied to money held in frozen bank accounts was disproportionate because the funds had not generated corresponding returns.
However, the three-member Court of Appeal panel rejected the argument, ruling that the adjustment was consistent with the applicable confiscation legislation.
The court held that the purpose of the inflation adjustment, known as the Change in Value of Money provision, was to preserve the real value of the criminal benefit when calculating the amount recoverable.
The judges also rejected the argument that the adjustment amounted to a disproportionate interference with Ibori’s property rights.
In its judgment, the court attributed the prolonged confiscation proceedings to Ibori’s persistent resistance to the process, noting that the delay could have been avoided if he had accepted that the funds represented criminal proceeds and agreed to their transfer.
The confiscation proceedings can now move forward following the dismissal of the appeal, although Ibori could seek to challenge the decision at the UK Supreme Court.
Speaking to Reuters after the ruling, Ibori said he was consulting his lawyers to determine his next steps. He also expressed frustration over the lengthy legal proceedings.
Ibori governed Delta State between 1999 and 2007. In 2012, he pleaded guilty in a British court to offences including conspiracy to defraud and money laundering involving tens of millions of dollars in public funds.
The funds were laundered through British banks and properties, according to the prosecution case. Following his guilty plea, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. He was released in late 2016 after serving approximately half of the sentence, taking account of time spent in detention, and returned to Nigeria in 2017.
The confiscation proceedings followed investigations into his financial activities by Nigerian and British law enforcement authorities.
The case remains one of the prominent examples of international cooperation in pursuing assets linked to corruption and financial crimes involving Nigerian public officials.
In Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission continues to pursue anti-corruption enforcement and public awareness initiatives, including its recent inauguration of Integrity Clubs in 50 secondary schools in Abuja.
The UK ruling represents another significant development in the long-running legal process to recover assets linked to Ibori’s corruption conviction.