Former Delta State Governor- Chief James Onanefe Ibori, on Monday said he has no Twitter Account at all.
In a statement by his Media Assistant, Tony Eluemunor, the former Governor of Delta State noted reports “that a Twitter handle in his name (@ChiefIbori), with his picture too, has been trending on the internet.”
The warning, the statement continued, is “to warn Nigerians not to fall victim to the fraudster who created that Twitter Account for whatever reason. We can only suspect that a confidence trickster must have created that account to lure incredulous Nigerians into a 419 trap.”
Checks by THEPOST on Monday evening however threw up five James Ibori twitter accounts as follows: @ChiefIbori, @James_Ibori, @JamesIbori111, @lordjio1 and @realjamesibori.
While @lordjio1 is yet to post anything original, @ChiefIbori on Sunday posted: “The energy yesterday was electrifying and intimidating. I’m grateful,” a twitter that attracted 84 replies, 86 retweets and 73 likes.
This was followed on Sunday, February 5, by another tweet accompanied with a video of his return: “I’m excited to reunite with my people. The strength of any politician lies in hands of his followers,” which got 87 replies, 161 retweets and 125 likes.
A day earlier, the fraudster, masquerading as the ex-governor tweeted: “Good morning Nigerians. #myfirstTweet.” It got 140 replies, 123 retweets and 93 likes.
However, @JamesIbori111 seems the oldest of the lot, baring posts as old as April 21, 2015. On May 17, 2015, the handler tweeted: “freedom is all that matters in Life. it can’t be compared to wealth or fame.”
In Monday’s statement, Eluemunor noted: “Please, Chief Ibori would like the general public to disregard that account and to stop assessing the Twitter handle over matters or discussions affecting him as he neither nor those working for him created that Twitter handle or has ever commented on it. The Twitter administrators have been advised to shut down the account and whenever Ibori sees the need to create a Twitter account, the public would be so advised.”