A London court has rejected an appeal by former governor of Delta state, James Ibori, seeking to reduce a £101.5 million asset confiscation order imposed on him following his conviction for fraud and money laundering.

According to reports by Reuters, the court of appeal rejected Ibori’s arguments on Tuesday after he challenged the amount ordered by a lower court in 2023.

Ibori approached the court seeking to reduce the confiscation sum by about £4.3 million ($5.8 million).

The confiscation order, equivalent to about $136.05 million, was issued by Southwark Crown Court in July 2023.

The court directed Ibori to pay the amount immediately or face an eight-year default prison sentence.

The appeal had delayed the confiscation process. The proceedings can now move forward unless Ibori decides to challenge the ruling at the UK supreme court.

Speaking to Reuters after the ruling, Ibori said he was consulting his lawyers to determine his next course of action.

He also expressed frustration over the length of the legal proceedings, saying his troubles had persisted for a long time.

“Give me a break,” he added.

Ibori, who was governor of Delta state between 1999 and 2007, was convicted by a UK court in 2012 after pleading guilty to laundering tens of millions of dollars in public funds through British banks and properties.

He was sentenced to 13 years in prison but was released in late 2016 after serving about half of sentence, taking into account time spent in pre-trial and post-trial detention. He returned to Nigeria in early 2017.

The confiscation proceedings followed investigations into his financial activities by Nigerian and British anti-corruption authorities. Ibori had left Nigeria for Dubai before being extradited to Britain in 2011.

In 2020, British prosecutors initiated proceedings to confiscate properties worth about £117 million linked to the former governor.

In July 2023, David Tomlinson, a judge at Southwark Crown Court, ordered the confiscation of £101.5 million traced to Ibori, following what he described as factual findings.

At the time, Ibori said he would appeal the decision, describing the ruling as difficult to comprehend and accept.

He alleged that the prosecution had failed to establish that money was stolen from Delta state and accused the judge of disregarding evidence and arguments presented by his lawyers.

He also questioned the directive to pay the confiscation sum immediately, arguing that selling the restrained assets could take several months.

The former governor had said the eight-year default sentence could become an issue if proceeds from the sale of his assets fell short of the amount ordered by the court.

In 2021, the British government returned £4.2 million recovered from Ibori’s former wife and sister to Nigeria under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by both countries in March of that year.

Former US President Barack Obama has called on Democrats to use their control of Congress to make changes and lay the groundwork for the future.

Democrats won full control of the US Congress in a sweeping mid-term rout Tuesday, with a landslide of upsets that delivered a crushing rebuke of President Donald Trump and his Republican Party.

Obama said the victory was a “clear message” from the American people.

“They want a politics that brings people together rather than divides them, and leaders who offer concrete solutions to the challenges they face,” he said.

Obama threw his political weight behind Democrats in key battleground states, rallying voters to rein in Trump and casting the mid-terms as a crucial chance to curb his administration’s excesses.

“These results were only possible because outstanding candidates stepped forward in every region of the country — including in areas once considered long shots,” Obama said in a statement.

“They came from different backgrounds and represented a range of political perspectives, but were united by shared values, a belief in public service, and a commitment to putting the people of their districts and states first.”

Obama noted that the Trump administration has another two years in office, “our job now is to roll up our sleeves, make changes wherever we have the power to do so, prevent further damage, and lay the groundwork for the future”.

Trump watched returns come in from the White House East Room, where the mood was described as tense.

He was silent on Truth Social for three hours Tuesday night as Democrats kept flipping seats blue.

He later posted: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

1. A fresh disagreement has emerged within the political groups backing Peter Obi’s 2027 presidential ambition, as the United Kingdom Coordinator of the OK Movement, Adebayo Brown, accused leaders of the Nigeria Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council and the Obidient Movement of fuelling divisions among supporters.

The accusation followed a disagreement over claims that Obi, the NDC presidential candidate, and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, had dissociated themselves from the OK Movement.

2. Southwest All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders yesterday resolved to mobilise the six states to give an overwhelming number of votes to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the January 16  election. The leaders, who met in Lagos, decided to work assiduously to deliver votes that will surpass what the President got in the 2023 election i

3. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has uncovered an illegal oil refinery allegedly operated by Chinese nationals in the Ogere area of Ogun State. The commission said the facility was discovered on Saturday, October 31, 2026, by operatives of its Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 following intelligence and surveillance on the activities of illegal sludge oil refiners.

4. The National Youth Service Corps has identified four irregularities in a certificate linked to former Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, insisting that the document was not issued by the corps. An Assistant Director in the NYSC Department of Certification, Yusuf Jumare, disclosed this on Tuesday while testifying as the second prosecution witness in the alleged certificate forgery and money laundering case against Nnaji before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

5. The National Assembly is set to transmit the proposed State Police Bill to President Bola Tinubu for assent after completing the authentication of approvals secured from 28 state Houses of Assembly. The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, confirming that the number of state legislatures that had approved the proposed constitutional amendment exceeded the constitutionally required threshold of 24 states.

6. The Ondo State Police Command has uncovered a suspected counterfeit currency production site in Odigbo Local Government Area of the state, arresting one suspect and recovering three bags of suspected fake United States dollar notes. The command said the operation took place on October 29 at Kiniso Village, via Ajue, following investigations into a complaint by a man who allegedly received counterfeit dollars from two men during a currency exchange transaction.

7. The Department of State Services, DSS, has dismissed allegations by former Vice President and African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, that it is organising protests to disrupt political activities in Sokoto State. The Service said its operatives had been providing security protection to political candidates across party lines, citing the evacuation of the ADC governorship candidate in Sokoto State, Mannir Daniya, during an attack on October 31, 2026.

8. The African Democratic Congress has kept the venue of its presidential campaign rally in Sokoto State secret ahead of Wednesday’s kickoff, citing security concerns amid allegations of attempts to disrupt the event. The party said it was taking precautionary measures to avoid being caught unawares, following reports of a possible plot to frustrate the rally scheduled for November 4.

9. The Lagos State Police Command has uncovered a suspected high-tech indoor cannabis farm at a residential property in Apapa, Lagos State, arresting a Polish national and a Nigerian in connection with the discovery. It was learnt that the suspects were identified as Thomas Razvickas, 49, a Polish national, and James Chisome, 36, a Nigerian. Both reportedly reside at the property where the facility was discovered.

10. The Director-General of the Department of State Services, DSS, Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi has set free and approved an initial payment of N20 million to four suspects, out of which each suspect is to receive five million Naira as compensation after being cleared of alleged membership of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.