Nigerians are justifiably outraged at the pardon of Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, ex-governor of Bayelsa State. Alamieyeseigha was governor from May 1999 until December 2005, three months after he was detained in London on charges of money laundering. President Goodluck Jonathan had served under Alamieyeseigha as deputy governor.
Instructively, in August 2005, a month before his arrest, Alamieyeseigha delivered a message, through his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, at a seminar in Abuja on “Winning the War against Corruption”. The self-styled Governor-General of the Ijaw nation “commended government’s stride with the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Code of Conduct Bureau, and urged the bodies not to ignore the private sector”.
