In this interview, former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Dipriye Alamieyeseigha speaks about the futility of attempts for power change in 2015, just as he gave insight into how he got his state pardon, among other salient issues. Correspondent Wale Elegbede brings the details…
Are you not perturbed about agitation between North and South for 2015 presidency?
This is a free country. The freedom of speech is a key in a democratic setting and ours should not be an exception. Those agitating for movement of presidency to the North have their own opinion and they are entitled to it, but I will tell you that without any doubt, President Goodluck Jonathan will remain president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, come 2015.
Is that a way of saying Aso Rock is not vacant in 2015?
Yes
But how will the South handle oppositions who are against your stance?
They will all, at the appropriate time, join the moving train.
How did you see the state of emergency rule declared by Jonathan in three Northern states?
I am fully in support of the decision by the president for what he did. He exhibited courage and that is what he should do. He is the Commander-in-Chief and he is backed by the constitution. The life of Nigerians, which he has sworn to protect, can no longer be wasting anyhow.
But there are fears and reports of spill over of Boko Haram to some other states. How do you think the president should handle this?
I thought that the federal government waited for too long. Some of this people have already infiltrated into other states but they would not garner that formidable force to cause any colossal damage. Yes, they can strike and run but the federal government is well equipped and capable of handling such isolated cases.
The pardon granted to you by the Council of State generated forms of ripples in the country. What was your feeling like when you heard the news?
It started during the time of Yar’Adua. It was a pardon that was negotiated. People don’t know what happened, so they can talk. But if I open my mouth, some of them will keep quiet. President Goodluck Jonathan was part of the negotiating team. There is no person in this country that understands the issues surrounding Alamieyeseigha better than Mr. President. He was my deputy governor and he knew everything that happened then. I am already writing my memoir. At the appropriate time, you will know. People have the right to say or speak their personal opinion. The federal government has taken a decision and I don’t think those people who are criticising my state pardon have the information the federal government has. They don’t know the contributions I have made towards the sustenance of peace in the country. Maybe it could have been better that let there be no oil; let there be no money to share at the federal government level and at the state level, then the impact could have been visible. Because things are so rosy and at the end of the month they go to Abuja and share the money, so they don’t feel the impact and they know that people went into the creeks; slept in every camp to make sure that amnesty was achieved. Even the former President Olusegun Obasanjo will agree how many commendation letters he himself wrote to me congratulating and thanking me for what I did. I risked myself, went as far to the high sea severally to rescue expatriates at the risk of my life. People have forgotten all these things. And it was number one on the negotiated items that I was going to be given pardon.
Who negotiated the pardon with you?
The Federal Government did. The Yar’Adua’s government was involved; Goodluck was only part of the negotiating team. The press recorded and reported it that when I was in Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Vice President Goodluck Jonathan visited me then in EFCC. It was part of the process. It is what Yar’Adua would have done. What is even this corruption that they are talking about? The whole thing was political and one day, I will expose everybody. I have started writing; people are ignorant of what really happened.
So, late President Yar’Adua brokered the state pardon deal for you?
Yes. Otherwise ,they would have even killed me. Without Yar’Adua, I would have died by now because so many attempts were made on my life.
Who are those people after your life?
Well, he is somebody all of you know. Somebody used the phrase, “Oga at the top”. You know them and I will reveal them at the appropriate time.
Are you saying your pardon was in order?
Yes. Like I said, this pardon was negotiated and if I fulfill my own part of the bargain, then why shouldn’t Federal Government fulfill its part?
Where and how would you place the British government’s involvement in your travails then?
British government brought me to this country. Didn’t you hear that our own Attorney-General went to the British Court to say that Alamieyeseigha should not be allowed to come home? Have you ever heard that a sovereign nation will go to another sovereign nation to say that its own national should not come home? When people commit offense, they run away from their countries. This one want to come back, they said he should not come back to his own country. Nuhu Ribadu was at the airport to identify me.
Did you actually sneak into Nigeria disguised like a woman?
Why didn’t they arrest me if I dressed like a woman? It is nonsensical. It was a computer graphic by a newspaper and there was an annotation under that photograph. People did not look at that. How can a governor-general dress like a woman to escape?
What do you think led to your travail?
The summary of it, according to Obasanjo, is that Atiku Abubakar nominated me as his running mate. End of story. And he said it is over his dead body; he would fight me and Atiku to the end of the world. That unless he dies, Atiku cannot be president of Nigeria. That was the beginning and the end of the story. But again, I am going to tell my story.
Did you take him seriously after that threat?
Maybe the only mistake I made was that I left this country to Germany for medical surgery. Again I made a mistake in calling him when I recovered from the surgery that I just came out from the theatre. I started having funny calls and they started plotting against me.
What about your impeachment as Bayelsa State governor?
Were you not told how I was impeached? I did not appear before any panel. My House of Assembly people were forcefully carried to Awolowo Road in Lagos and under gun point signed my impeachment; taken to Abuja and with full police back-up and taken to Yenogoa to pronounce my impeachment. Everybody knows what happened.
Did Jonathan support your impeachment?
If he had not succumbed, he would have gone with me. They would have taken me and him out.
So, were there any hard-feelings against Jonathan at any point?
No way. He is my younger brother.
Did Jonathan give you secret support during your time of travail?
He will always be my younger brother. If he has not succumbed to what they did, he is only one person and of course, he also would have been removed.
Have you spoken to Obasanjo since then?
There is no need. The damage has been done but I have told him face to face that I have forgiven him and I have forgiven everybody.
What is your reaction to reports that you want to run for Senate in 2015?
It is not true. I am not talking about politics. I enjoyed my freedom.
Considering the genesis of your travails, Is there any lesson you think leaders should learn from what is happening in Rivers State?
I have told Amaechi himself that he should use me as example that nobody fights against the Federal Government. He should learn that after God, it is the government. Amaechi is in a regional government. There is the federal government and there is President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. However, you will be shocked that the president himself does not know much about the issues. It is people around that are creating this entire problem. If you call two of them and seat them down, I am sure they would not be able to tell you what has happened between them.