Posted by FROM TUNDE OYEDOYIN, in LONDON on
BAYELSA State Governor, Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha has stated that his ordeal in London is purely political and that President Olusegun Obasanjo is punishing him for supporting Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
BAYELSA State Governor, Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha has stated that his ordeal in London is purely political and that President Olusegun Obasanjo is punishing him for supporting Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian at his house in the western part of London last week, Alamieyeseigha disclosed how Obasanjo had promised him hell during a private meeting he had with the President in August.
"The President told me that as long as I support Atiku, I will not know peace," he said.
Alamieyeseigha also revealed how his arrest saved him from assasination, how his arrest was effected and how his bail application was about being varied last Friday and his passport released, but for the appearance of the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo in London.
MY STORY, BY ALAMIEYESEIGHA
AS at 1999, when I took over, Bayelsa State was near ungovernable. The military was beaten hands down and they had no answer to the youth crisis in the area." According to the governor, "When I took over on May 29, I had no house and no office. I started from nowhere. There was no light and only a tiny road existed and that led to Yenagoa. The state had no tertiary institution; transport was zero and there was no health facilities," in place.
The gloomy situation made the youths to be restive, as they very well know that their state contributes 30 per cent of the oil revenue. With this backdrop, Alamieyeseigha said he started campaigning for resource control, and this soon spread like wildfire. However, "that campaign didn't go well with the central government and this culminated in the Odi crisis."
The Odi crisis, he said, was caused by some hoodlums driven out of the black market, who then killed some policemen. "Even though we said Bayelsa would deal with them, the Federal Government didn't even wait for the ultimatum we gave the hoodlums, before invading Odi." The invasion resulted in the loss of about 2,850 lives and only three structures - a Church, clinic and a bank - were left standing after the rampaging. Surprisingly, though, "no hoodlums were arrested and no weapons recovered."
The governor revealed that he wasn't even spared. "I was called all sorts of names and my house was bombed. I confronted the Federal Government, but they claimed it was an electrical fault." This, he said, was contrary to what the experts said. "Bomb disposal experts in Port Harcourt confirmed that they were explosives."
The next battleground, Alamieyeseigha claimed, was at the National Political Reform Conference, where the Ijaw nation was properly mobilised and "we set the agenda for the South-South geo-political region." The government, he said, "wasn't happy about it," just as being called "Governor-General," by the Ijaw nation didn't go down well with the powers that be.
Of particular mention, was a document put together by the South-South, and this, the government interpreted to mean he is the real enemy. "I could have shown you that document, but the Police have taken them away with other items," he revealed.
Thereafter, he talked about how the boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC), (Mallam Nuhu Ribadu) told him to settle any differences he might have had with President Olusegun Obasanjo. Having gone to meet Obasanjo on August 20, 2005, it became clear that the stakes were high, but he never knew the type of script already written against his name, until his arrest on September 15.
"When the Magistrate ruled that the Police had no power to impose conditions on my bail, I was re-arrested and the Police hurriedly went back that night and framed charges against me. They went back to my house and collected what some good Samaritans had contributed towards my defence fund."
Having spent 15 days in both Brixton and Wandsworth prisons, where he was placed in the psychiatric wing, the Bayelsa State chief executive said, "I doubts if the case would ever go to trial," because the Police have shown on November 3, that "they're not ready." Alamieyeseigha lamented that, having worked tirelessly for a second term for Obasanjo, he's disappointed to have been treated this way.
"This is somebody I worked so hard to bring back in 2003, even without him coming to campaign in my state." While he scored 95.6 per cent to retain his governorship seat, Obasanjo recorded a whopping landslide 97 per cent. Obasanjo, he claimed, "has descended so low by granting audience with a British Police constable," - all in an effort, he said, to have him nailed.
Alamieyeseigha said: "I know what I've done for this man - Obasanjo - and how can I fight two governments? It's even impossible to fight the Nigerian government alone, much more when they're conniving with the British. I'm held hostage against my wish, and if people commit crime in their country, what they do is to run away, but I want to go back to Nigeria."
Even without knowing what was to come the next day, Tuesday, when his wife was arrested, the governor had complained that "my wife and kids are being haunted," and that one of his daughters is even stranded in Nigeria. But he was optimistic, saying, the "Almighty God would vindicate me and intervene."
Asked if he has spoken to the President since the drama unfolded, Alamieyeseigha said, "I've spoken to him twice, one was on this matter and the second was when his wife (Stella) died. Moreover, "there's no important person," who has not had a word with Obasanjo on his behalf.
'The Presidency Has Ordered My Assassination'
THE embattled governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, has for the first time, spoken of a "stitching up" plot by the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
Speaking exclusively to The Guardian on Monday afternoon, Alamieyeseigha revealed that, contrary to what the Police have said, nothing close to a million pounds was found in his house.
"As the Chief Executive of a state with many students on welfare benefits, I always keep £110,000 in the house for statutory purposes, and I told the Police about this."
Besides, the governor disclosed how he never knew that he was being trailed and monitored on his trip to Germany, until his arrest by British Policemen at Heathrow Airport, on September 15.
The man they call 'Governor General,' also disclosed during the interview, that the Presidency had given orders to the British Secret Service, M16, that he should be assassinated. The assassination plot, he said, was blown open by a British detective working with M16.
According to the governor, after his arrest at the Heathrow airport, "an M16 officer came to me and said I should count myself extremely lucky to be alive. The officer told me that I was to be assassinated in Nigeria."
The assassination plot, the detective revealed, is part of a four-point game plan to get rid of him at all costs.
The governor said: "The officer also revealed that the four-point action plan includes; linking me with Osama Bin Laden, as a terrorist." The other is "that I'm the financier of Alhaji Dokubo-Asari" (now detained and charged with treason in Abuja).
And "if I'd mistakenly followed a British Airways flight from Nigeria, their plan was to plant drugs and explosives in my bag. And if they'd done that, I would have been in the cell and nobody would talk to me for three months."
Alamieyeseigha continued, by talking about his arrest and the events that happened thereafter. He stated that "on September 15, they removed the stitches of my operation, but prior to that, I'd spoken to my kids the previous day, telling them that I was too weak after the operation and that my two sons should come over and help me pack my bag to my house in London."
The governor, who, expectedly, was in a business class in the British Airways flight from Germany, said: "When the air hostesses upgraded my sons' tickets from economy to business class," he suspected nothing, but said, "I was surprised."
Albeit, it turned out to be the kind of surprise that he's unfamiliar with. "As soon as we landed at the Airport at 2.15pm, British Policemen came inside the plane and handcuffed me, and they told me they've been on me since March and that they have orders from both the President and EFCC."
The governor continued: "They (police) searched me and found nothing implicating, then collected everything - including mobile phones - before asking my sons to go home with my bags. After that, I was locked up and confronted with my assets declaration forms of 1999."
Speaking further in his expansive living room in west London, Alamieyeseigha said, "I pleaded my immunity, but the Policemen said I had none, and that it has been removed."
With nothing betraying his emotions, he said, "I told them that I'm bleeding inside, and that I'm also diabetic and hypertensive. But it fell on deaf ears, as I was then driven away to a Police station, where they kept me in their vehicle for about 45 to 50 minutes."
The Policemen, the governor continued, came back to him in custody, around 11.30pm, "and jokingly told me that they came to my house and found about £1 million." This, according to him, isn't true.
Alamieyeseigha revealed that "even the money they found on me was grossly inflated to 82,000 euros." He said the money found on him was just 32,000 euros and that it was meant to be for his kids' school fees. "I'm sure the real owner of the money (82,000 euros) will come out when the trial begins."
'My Ordeal Political'
BAYELSA State Governor, Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha has revealed that his money-laundering ordeal in London is purely political and that President Olusegun Obasanjo is punishing him for supporting Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian at his house in the western part of the City on Monday afternoon, the governor disclosed how Obasanjo had promised him - Alamieyeseigha - hell during a private meeting he had with the President in August.
"The President told me that as long as I support Atiku, I will not know peace," he said.
Alamieyeseigha also revealed how his bail application was about being varied last Friday and that his passport could have been released, but for the appearance of the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo in London, to foil the bail variation bid.
Ojo, the governor said, "told me, 'I'm sorry, but I'm acting on orders from the President,'" on coming face to face with him (Alamieyeseigha) at the Southwark Crown Court.
The Judge, an aide of the Governor revealed, had said earlier in the week that: "I have no reason to keep you (Alamieyeseigha) here in London," and Friday was supposed to be a mere formality. But Ojo appeared out of the blues and made an indicting statement that made Judge Rivlin have a second thought.
The governor also disclosed how the EFCC chairman (Ribadu), had told him that he was being monitored by the President, and that he should go and settle any scores that he had with Obasanjo.
He stated that he went to see Obasanjo in Abuja on August 20, and that was when the President made it clear that "as long as you support Atiku, you will not know peace," and that, "I (Obasanjo) will only leave you alone when I'm convinced that you're no longer behind Atiku."
The President, the governor informed, was not happy that as a former military man, he (Alamieyeseigha) should be supporting Atiku. "I promised my loyalty to the President and even told him I was going to Germany for treatment. While on my sick bed after the operation, I even spoke to the President, not knowing that I was being monitored."
Alamieyeseigha also revealed that the money found in his house was grossly inflated and neither he nor the Police officers who went to search his house after the arrest signed any document. "Everything was estimate, including the euros found on me before being taken to custody," he said.
REPORTER"S DIARY
My phone doesn't vibrate for nothing. So, when, last Sunday, it started giving its trademark noise on the dining table, I knew it couldn't have been for the fun of it. Someone's calling, I said, without even thinking. "Hello," I said, while quickly reaching out to grab it with my left hand and clutching it to my left ear. "I just hope nobody's trying to spoil the dinner," I was going for later that evening.
And thankfully, it wasn't a "kill joy" message. The caller turned out to be a confidant of the Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha. "What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?" he asked.
"Well..." Before I could complete my statement, he gave me an offer that couldn't be turned down. "Would you want an interview with His Excellency, the Governor of Bayelsa State?"
It reminded me of my time at Igbobi College, Lagos, a couple of years ago, when, without joining the long list of guys wanting to go out with one beautiful girl, she dropped a small piece of paper in my hands, and guess what was on it - I love you. I couldn't believe it. Boys had wanted to get this girl and I'd deliberately stayed away, and now this offer came. "Oh dear, I'm up for it, while giving her a loving smile. To be honest, I can't remember what really happened afterwards that night.
Anyway, just like I concurred to the girl's wish, I grabbed the governor's invitation with both hands, and tell you what, I was sitting diagonally to him in his West London house, by lunchtime the next day.
Unlike the day he came out of Brixton Prison last month, when I was smuggled into his apartment, under the guise that I was a well-wisher, I needn't fake anything on this occasion. I was an invited guest. There and then, DSP Alamieyeseigha told me the story of this unusual chapter of his life. Read on: