Posted by By KENNY ASHAKA, just back from Gusau on
Just few days after losing his bid to stop his trial, former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, is about losing one of his prime property, Chelsea hotels, Abuja to his state government.
•Worry as ex-Gov's health ‘worsens'
• Panic, as EFCC zeroes in on N/A members
Just few days after losing his bid to stop his trial, former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, is about losing one of his prime property, Chelsea hotels, Abuja to his state government.
Incidentally, Alamieyeseigha, impeached as governor of Bayelsa in December last year, is also said to be fighting for dear life, with his health reportedly worsening.
Said to be under observation at a private heart laboratory in Victoria Island, Lagos, the man who in his days as Governor of Bayelsa was referred to as the Governor General of Ijaw Nation, is reportedly suffering from a hypertensive heart disease and diabetes mellitus.
But for the legal tangle, a group of friends, it was gathered, are ready to go any length to persuade the presidency to allow the embattled governor get the best medical attention 'even if that would mean flying in the best doctors from anywhere in the world."
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the 40-count charge it brought against Alamieyeseigha over allegations of money laundering, had listed the hotel as one of the 17 prime property acquired by the former governor while in office.
Valued at N2 billion, the former Bayelsa State helmsman was said to have paid N1.5 billion in cash to acquire the hotel.
Despite what the EFCC said were facts at its disposal, Alamieyeseigha denied the ownership of the said hotel, disclosing instead, that it was acquired for the state government by his administration.
The state government, Sunday Sun gathered, has now commenced moves to take over the ownership of the hotel.
A reliable source in the EFCC informed that in the process of verifying the documentation, it was discovered that 'some smart civil servants, taking advantage of Alamieyeseigha's impeachment, had upped the amount paid by the former governor from N1.5 billion to N2 billion for the hotel."
Sunday Sun understands that the excess of N500 million was to be pocketed by the dubious civil servants.
Some of the other property allegedly owned by Alamieyeseigha with an asset base that runs into tens of billions of naira include Solomon & Peters Ltd, Santolina Investment Corporation, Pesal Nigeria Ltd, Salomein & Associates (Nig) Ltd, Kpedefa Nigeria Ltd, Jetty Properties Ltd and Herbage Global Service Ltd.
On Wednesday, the embattled former governor failed in his bid to stop his trial by a Federal High Court in Lagos on charges of money laundering.
The High Court had earlier assumed jurisdiction over the case but a dissatisfied Alamieyeseigha went to the Appeal Court to challenge the decision of the lower court to try him.
In its ruling Wednesday, the appellate court upheld the ruling of the High Court that it has the jurisdiction to hear the matter.
Meanwhile, the EFCC is said to be making progress in its investigation of the alleged bribery of some National Assembly members during the debate on the 1999 constitution amendment bill.
Some senators were alleged to have collected N50 million each while some members of the House of Representatives reportedly pocketed N40 million for their support for tenure elongation.
Working in concert with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the anti-corruption agency has already traced some huge lodgments in some banks to the lawmakers.
'We have started noticing some huge lodgments made into the accounts of some of the lawmakers. Following this discovery, we would soon start inviting them one after the other," another source in the EFCC volunteered.