By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
That there is a sort of trepidation in the air around political stakeholders in Delta State can hardly be passed over. There is no doubt that there is anxiety as James Ibori, the man that has for the past 16 years set the direction for the political pattern of the state is now basking in freedom after his incarceration in a London prison over money laundering issues.

Even while in prison he remained a major player to whom nearly all top political office holders in the state resorted to for direction. His role in the dramatic twists that shadowed the 2015 governorship battle in the state has been set in a kind of political folklore told again and again.

With the former two-term governor now released, speculations on the effect of his return is putting many stakeholders in a state of nervousness. While there is little doubt about the readiness of his political family to receive him with warmth, the issue for other more tactical stakeholders in his political family is the path he would trudge in the immediate future.

The options for Ibori or speculations about his immediate future may be to lie low, face fresh charges or become an agent for the government in addressing the issues of vandalism in the Niger Delta region.

Ibori after his release from prison in the United Kingdom.

Lying low: Given the humbling experience he has been through, it is believed in some circles that the former governor of Delta State could decide to remove himself from public circulation and take stock of life and his legacy. However, those who know the man doubt this, especially given his claim that he remains innocent of accusations by some that he enriched himself with funds from Delta State.

“I may have profited from my connections while in government, but there is no evidence that I stole one kobo of Delta State government money,” a man who visited him in prison some years ago told  Vanguard.

That sense of moral justification some believe could spur him to put off any sense of guilt to forge life ahead.

Those who also know him see him as a jolly good fellow who would be out of place lying low away from where it is happening.

With some of his very good friends in the two major parties, All Progressives Congress, APC and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ibori it is argued, may find it difficult to ease out of the political terrain.

Some others also believe that with the defection of some of his key associates in Delta State to the All Progressives Congress, APC that Ibori could decide to play the statesman and become a father to all in the APC and the PDP. Among his key associates that have left the PDP are Chief Ayiri Emami and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege among others.

Face charges

There is some sense of unease among some supporters of Ibori over what is alleged as  plot by some to subject him to fresh charges or the same charges as he was convicted of in the United Kingdom.

“There is a campaign especially in some sections of the media to put him through the courts,” a source close to him confided. The purpose of putting the former governor to another trial, it was learnt, was to put him out of circulation or to cage him for the purpose of achieving the political goals of particular interests.

However, supporters of the former governor are already pleading double jeopardy in his defence.

Join Buhari’s campaign to quell restiveness

Given the more than N1 trillion lost in the outgoing year to vandalism of the pipelines, there is a growing campaign to recruit Ibori to quell the restiveness. Indications of the federal administration’s inclinations towards resolving the issue were painted by the administration’s new approach of dialogue with Niger Delta stakeholders and President Muhammadu Buhari’s proposals in the 2017 budget laid before the National Assembly.

 Facilitator of the Amnesty Programme

In the proposals, the administration has made proposals to more than double the provisions for the Amnesty Programme, a fact that reflects the new thinking in government that the ex-militants should not be jettisoned as was thought of by some in the power circles in Abuja.

Given that the Amnesty Programme was conceived by the Umaru Yar‘adua administration, a government where Ibori served in the background as a key player and reportedly as a facilitator of the Amnesty Programme, the thinking is that Ibori could again be used to reach out to the militants involved in the face off with the administration. His recruitment in that direction is against the background of the fact that as governor of Delta State he helped to return the coastal sections of the state to peace after years of ethnic warfare.

The increasing influence of his bosom friend, Senate President Bukola Saraki in the Muhammadu Buhari administration could also serve as a point of engagement to put him to work towards resolving the crisis in the Niger Delta.