Diepreye Alamieyeseigha

Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha
Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (right) with U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Howard F. Jeter (left), July 6, 2001
Governor of Bayelsa State
In office 29 May 1999 – 9 December 2005
Preceded by	Paul Obi
Succeeded by	Goodluck Jonathan
Personal details
Born	16 November 1952 Amassoma, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha ("DSP") (born 16 November 1952) was governor of Bayelsa State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 9 December 2005.

Background

Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was born in 16 November 1952 in Amassoma, Ogboin North Local Government Area, Bayelsa State. He attended the Bishop Dimeari Grammer School, Yenagoa. He joined the Nigerian Defence Academy as a Cadet Officer in 1974, then joined the Nigerian Air Force, where he served in the department of Logistics and Supply. He held various air force positions in Enugu, Markurdi, Kaduna and Ikeja. Alamieyeseigha retired from the air force in 1992 as a Squadron Leader.^[1]

After leaving the air force he became the Sole Administrator of Pabod Supplies Port Harcourt. Later he became Head of Budget, Planning, Research and Development of the National Fertiliser Company (NAFCON).^[1]

Governor of Bayelsa State

Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was elected Governor of Bayelsa State in May 1999 as a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He was re-elected in 2003.^[2] Vice President Atiku Abubakar attended the March 2003 event that kicked of his campaign for reelection in 2003.^[3]

Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was impeached on allegations of corruption on 9 December 2005.^[2]

Subsequent career

Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was detained in London on charges of money laundering in September 2005. At time of arrest, Metropolitan police found about £1m-worth of cash in his London home. Later they found a total of £1.8m ($3.2m) in cash and bank accounts.^[4] He has been found to own real estate in London worth an alleged £10 million.^{[citation needed]} His state's monthly federal allocation for the last six years has been in the order of £32 million.^{[citation needed]} He jumped bail in December 2005 from the United Kingdom by allegedly disguising himself as a woman, though Alamieyeseigha denies this claim.^[5]

On July 26, 2007, Alamieyeseigha pled guilty before a Nigerian court to six charges and was sentenced to two years in prison on each charge; however, because the sentences were set to run concurrently and the time was counted from the point of his arrest nearly two years before the sentences, his actual sentence was relatively short. Many of his assets were also ordered to be forfeited to the Bayelsa state government. According to Alamieyeseigha, he only pled guilty due to his age and would have fought the charges had he been younger.^[6] On July 27, just hours after being taken to prison, he was released due to time already served.^[7]

In April 2009, Alamieyeseigha pledged a donation of 3,000,000 Naira to the Akassa Development Foundation^{[citation needed]}

In December 2009, the Federal government hired a British law firm to help dispose of four expensive properties acquired by Diepreye Alamieyeseigha in London. Alamieyeseigha had bought one of these properties for £1, 750,000.00 in July 2003, paying in cash. Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha used it as his London residence, and as the registered office of Solomon and Peters Inc.^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Alamieyeseigha, 57 and unrepentant". Nigeria Daily News. November 16, 2009. http://ndn.nigeriadailynews.com/templates/?a=20227. Retrieved 2009-12-05. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Diepreye Alamieyeseigha". Basel Institute on Governance. http://www.assetrecovery.org/kc/node/24d05648-b4b0-11dd-a1f9-7986f5e51dc8.0;jsessionid=3A4E96D150E4C139329FB6680BC5162A. Retrieved 2009-12-05. 
3. ^ Chukwudi Nwabuko (2003-03-20). "Atiku in Yenagoa, Reconciles Alamieyeseigha, Alaibe". ThisDay. http://www.thisdayonline.com/political/20030320pol01.html. Retrieved 2009-12-05. 
4. ^ "Nigeria governor to be impeached". BBC News. 23 November 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4462444.stm. Retrieved 2009-12-05. 
5. ^ "Nigeria's runaway governor". BBC News. 6 December 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4499962.stm. Retrieved 2009-12-05. 
6. ^ Adesina Aiyekoti, "Corruption: Alamieyeseigha pleads guilty, bags 12 years jail term", Daily Sun (Nigeria), July 27, 2007.
7. ^ "Former Nigerian state governor freed a day after corruption conviction". Associated Press (International Herald Tribune). July 28, 2007. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/28/africa/AF-POL-Nigeria-Corruption.php. 
8. ^ Musikilu Mojeed (December 2, 2009). "Alamieyeseigha’s London properties for sale". 234Next. http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5451341-147/story.csp. Retrieved 2009-12-05. 

Persondata
Name	Alamieyeseigha, Diepreye
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 November 1952
Place of birth	Amassoma, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Date of death
Place of death