James Ibori: How a thief almost became Nigeria's president

BBC

27 February 2012

James Ibori: How a thief almost became Nigeria's president

By Andrew Walker

The story of how James Ibori went from convicted thief in London in the 1990s, to become governor of a wealthy oil-producing Nigerian state and then to a British prison is a remarkable one.

It is the story of a wily political operator, backing the right political horses and shifting allegiances when expedient.

Given slightly different circumstances, according to one observer, it could have seen Ibori in the presidential villa rather than a British jail cell.