LOBATAN!!!!

Nigeria's government has pardoned a key ally of President Goodluck Jonathan who was convicted of stealing millions of dollars.

Ex-Bayelsa state Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha had been pardoned because he had been "remorseful", presidential adviser Doyin Okupe said.

Opposition activists said the decision is a major blow to efforts to curb corruption in Nigeria.

He was released in 2007, two days after receiving a two-year sentence.

The decision was taken because he had already served two years in prison since his arrest.

He was first arrested in the UK in 2005 on money-laundering charges, but jumped bail.
'Irresponsible decision'

Officials said Mr Alamieyeseigha fled the UK disguised in women's clothing, a claim he has consistently denied.

He was later arrested in Nigeria and became the first ex-governor to be convicted of corruption.
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There's no law against the granting of pardons to any criminal”

Doyin Okupe Presidential adviser

Under Nigeria's federal system, governors wield huge powers and control budgets larger than those of many neighbouring countries.

Mr Okupe told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that the Council of States, a group headed by Mr Jonathan, had pardoned Mr Alamieyeseigha.

"He was tried, jailed and dispossessed of his property. He has been remorseful," Mr Okupe said.

"There's no law against the granting of pardons to any criminal."

BBC Nigeria analyst Fidelis Mbah says Mr Alamieyeseigha is now free to run for political office again, and could bolster Mr Jonathan's chances of winning another term in elections due in 2015.

Mr Alamieyeseigha remains influential in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where many people believe his trial was political, he says.

The ex-governor will be expected to rally support for Mr Jonathan in the region, where the president's support has fallen, he adds.

When Mr Alamieyeseigha was the governor of Bayelsa, Mr Jonathan was his deputy.

Prominent Nigerian human rights lawyer Bamidele Aturu said the government would "live to regret the irresponsible decision", Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper reports.

"In my view, it is better to fling open the gates of all our prisons and ask all the inmates to walk out into the warm embrace of their relatives than pardon those who force otherwise decent Nigerians to take to crime as a way of life," Mr Aturu is quoted as saying.

Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria's former anti-corruption chief and leader of the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) party, said the pardon was the "the final nail" in the coffin for fighting corruption in the country, Associated Press news agency reports.

Nigeria is Africa's leading oil producer, but critics say widespread corruption has meant that its wealth has not been used to improve living standards in a country where most people are poor.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21769047

English na english pardon na pardon

British are too concerned about Niggerian
I guess they too are Concerned about the renewal Of the illegal oil well licences. And they Should be.

Do y'all still remember this woman...? He/She is the former governor of Bayelsa State. Our oga above has pardoned him

The height of irresponsibility by the president and members of his cabinet. Now, they have institutionalized corruption at the highest level. In fact, I have no respect for the president. This shows how myopic he is. I wonder what kind of a president that will pardon an ex convict. This shows he is covering something in which he was involved during Alamieyeseigha reign as the governor and he was the deputy. They must have sat to discuss this in private. I am bitter. Okupe is a mar---oon

That name, 'jonathan', what is the real meaning?
It shld be something like 'fish brain', I tell u