by Rachel Ogbu

Former Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha has revealed that his state pardon was actually approved by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua administration and all President Goodluck Jonathan did was complete the process.

Speaking to journalist in Lagos yesterday, Alamieyeseigha who became the first governor to be convicted for corruption said “it was a pardon that was negotiated. People who don’t know what happened are the ones talking.”

According to reports, the ex-convict boasted that President Jonathan was his deputy as Bayelsa State Governor, and was part of the entire deal that he would disclose in a memoir he is writing.

“Like I said, the pardon was negotiated and if I fulfilled my own part
of the bargain, why shouldn’t the Federal Government fulfill its part?” he asked.

[READ: Opinion: Why the Ijaws still love Alamieyeseigha ]

“President Goodluck Jonathan was part of the negotiating team. There
 is no person in this country that knows issues surrounding 
Alamieyeseigha better than Mr President. He was my deputy governor and
 all that transpired were known to him. I am already writing my memoir. At the appropriate time, you will know that my pardon was in order.”

“Without Yar’Adua, I would have died,” he reportedly said.

According to SaharaReporters,

A political observer in Abuja described Alamieyeseigha “a balloon of hot air.”

He told SaharaReporters, “There is nothing that an individual convict could have negotiated with the federal government by which to obtain pardon. Alams did not negotiate anything and could not have negotiated anything. This is like IBB telling Nigerians he will soon disclose the reason for annulling the 1992 elections. IBB has been making that promise for 20 years now, but he cannot fulfill it because words cannot frame the depth of his betrayal of Nigeria.

Alams took advantage of a weakling in presidential office that used to be his Deputy Governor, that is all. I feel sorry for Nigeria and Nigerians.” 

Saharareporters gathered that Alamieyeseigha has begun moves to throw 
his full questionable weight behind President Jonathan’s 2015 presidential ambitions, as that is the only way the ongoing hoax can survive.