₦airaland Forum

Those unfortunate folks, I heard, were warned about the impending doom, but refused to flee. So, they paid dearly for refusing to flee with their lives.

There are some ''dirty'' Niger Deltans in our midst in the Delta. One by one, they and their collaborators, in the SouthWest and the North will reap the wirlwind after sowing the wind. And the folks in the West and North, and even in the East, I bet it's high time they left this siddon look and wait for oil money to share at Abuja, and start looking at Cocoa, rubber, Kolanut, groundnut pyramids and hides and skin to export for foreign exchange. A word is enough for the wise.

Should Asari Dokubo die today, let it be known to all that there are several Asari's in the Delta. And they are ready to die for a just cause.

Make una no vex o. I don come again (Warri boy!).

Em, I like reading newspapers a lot, and when I stumbled across this Alams matter again, I say make I post am for my people to read.

Please do not read if you don't like long postings. And don't fire missiles at me this time, but to Prof Ben Nwabueze.

Eddie, abeg, take some minutes out of your busy schedule and read this write up. Maybe u go change ur mind. Don't get me wrong o, Alams na thief. Dem don catch am. He dey Lagos dey dance to the music wey him pay for.


Alamieyeseigha's removal: Coup against Constitution, Rule of Law
By chairman of The Patriots, foremost Constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze

THE resolution adopted at a meeting of the House of Assembly on Tuesday November 29, 2005, requesting the state Chief Judge to appoint a seven-man panel under Section 188(5) of the constitution to investigate the allegation of gross misconduct contained in the impeachment notice, was passed by 15 members out of the membership of 24, which is one member less than the two-thirds majority of ALL the members required for the purpose by section 188(4). The meeting also purported irregularly to suspend the members who refused to join in passing the resolution. For this meeting, the 15 members who passed the resolution were brought to Yenogoa, the state capital, from Abuja where they were being quartered and taken back there after the meeting, for which reason they were referred to as "hostage" members, as indeed they were. They were certainly not free agents but were acting as directed by the Federal Government and the EFCC.

Fifthly, the power to appoint a seven-man panel to investigate the allegations of gross misconduct is, for good reason, entrusted to the state chief judge because he represents the third arm of government that is supposed to be independent of both the Executive and Legislative arms, and because he is an agent of the law enjoined by his oath of office to uphold the law impartially and faithfully without fear or favour.

In going ahead to appoint the investigating panel under section 188(5), notwithstanding the unconstitutional interference by the Federal Government and the EFCC in the impeachment process, it is obvious that the Chief Judge, Justice Emmanuel Igoniwari, acted not as a free agent, but under fear and irresistible pressure. As he, himself complained in a report in The Punch of Tuesday December 6, 2005:

"I was under unbelievable pressures from all corners. It was like a tsunami... Requests turned to threats and this was compounded by wicked or evil rumours. Some of the rumours and requests were even to the effect that a list of panel members would be drawn up for me to sign and the list would be taken away from me. Further that I might be whisked away and forced to sign a list, if continued to say no to offers or requests."

From a letter dated 2 December by Alamieyeseigha protesting the inclusion of four persons in the membership of the panel and similar protest by one of his supporters, it may be inferred that the Chief Judge might not entirely have resisted the pressures and threats.

Sixthly, of the many allegations of gross misconduct levelled against Governor Alamieyeseigha, only two, namely, jumping bail and failure to inform the House Assembly of his arrest and pending trial for money laundering in London, were considered and reported on by the investigating panel because, being notorious, self-evident and uncontroverted facts, they required no proof. These two alleged misconducts were not in the original list of allegations contained in the impeachment notice served on the Governor, and were only subsequently added. The other allegations were left for consideration in a future report because they require exhaustive investigation that is "bound to take a lot of time, resources an effort."

The panel was quite unsparing in the language used in its report to describe the gross nature and grave consequences of the misconduct of jumping bail, for which it so roundly and brutally condemned Alamieyeseigha, but it said nothing at all, not even one word, about the all-important question whether, as specifically stipulated in Section 188(2) of the Constitution, the act and omission in question amount to gross misconduct by Alamieyeseigha "in the performance of the functions of his office" as Governor of Bayelsa State. The failure by the panel to address this question could not have been other than that it was deliberately intended to avoid the conclusion that the two alleged misconducts did not constitute an impeachable offence in terms of Section 188(2) of the Constitution.

Only at the cost of doing great violence to language can it be said that Chief Alamieyeseigha was performing the functions of the office of Governor when he jumped bail or when he failed to inform the House of his arrest and pending trial for money laundering in London, gross as the misconduct on these two grounds might be. In any case, he was on leave of absence from office at the time, a fact on which the Speaker of the House was insistent when he said that the person recognised by the House as responsible for performing the functions of the office of Governor at the material time was, not Alamieyeseigha, but his Deputy whom the House had earlier appointed as acting Governor in the absence of Alamieyeseigha away on leave. It would be a manifest contradiction both to maintain that Alamieyeseigha was absent from duty on leave and at the same time that he was performing the functions of the office of Governor while on leave and while his Deputy was acting in the same office.

It is not without reason that only acts or omissions committed by the President or State Governor in the performance of the functions of his office are made the only impeachable offences by the Constitution. Otherwise the door would have been left so wide open for all sorts of allegations of gross misconduct, like rape or acts done before he assumed the office, to be trumped up against him but which have no connection whatsoever with the performance of the functions of his office.

Last but perhaps more decisive than the six illegalities listed above, the removal of Governor Alamieyeseigha in accordance with the rigorous and laborious process prescribed by Section 188 of the Constitution was dogged by yet another legal barrier more immediately calculated to frustrate and defeat the avowed determination of President Obasanjo to send him back to London from whence he had escaped to return to Nigeria. Two such barriers had suddenly but not unexpectedly sprung up.

The suspended members of the Bayelsa House of Assembly had, on Friday December 2, 2005, filed a suit in the State High Court against their 15 colleagues who earlier adopted the resolution requesting the Chief Judge to appoint an investigating panel. Joining the Chief Judge as co-defendant, they prayed the court, among other reliefs, for an injunction restraining the Chief Jude "whether by himself, agents, privies and servants from giving effect to any request from the 1st - 15th November 2005 or any other day whatsoever to appoint any investigative panel to investigate the governor of Bayelsa State." On the same day another suit was filed in the Supreme Court by the Attorney-General of Bayelsa State against the Attorney-General of the Federation claiming, among other reliefs, an order of injunction "restraining President Obasanjo and agencies of the Federal Government from any attempt to forcibly remove or induce the removal of Governor Alamieyeseigha from office" and from "further unlawful and unconstitutional interference in the administration of the state."

The effect of the filing of a suit seeking an injunction to restrain a defendant from doing certain acts is that his hands become as effectively tied as if an order of injunction has actually been made, provided he has notice of the suit. The position of the law upon this point is stated as follows by Obaseki JSC in Military Governor of Lagos State v. Ojukwu & Anor. (1986) NSSC (pt 1) 304 at pages 312 - 313, relying on a passage in the judgment of the U.S. Supreme Court in Edward Jones v. Securities and Exchange Commission 298 U.S. 1, at page 33.

"The rule is well settled both by the courts of England and of this country that where a suit is brought to enjoin certain activities, for example, the erection of a building or other structures, of which suit the defendant has notice the hands of the defendant are effectively tied pending a hearing and determination even though no restraining order or preliminary injunction be issued... He acts at his peril and subject to the power of the court to restore the status wholly irrespective of the merits as they may be ultimately decided" (emphasis supplied).

In Daniel v. Ferguson (1891) 2 Ch 27, one of the English decisions cited by the U.S. Supreme Court, a suit was brought to restrain the defendant from building so as to darken the plaintiff's lights. After receiving notice of a motion for temporary injunction and before the motion was heard, the defendant put a large number of men to work on the building, running a wall up to a height of about 39 feet from the ground in anticipation of the order of the court. The court of Appeal (England) ordered the wall to be pulled down. Kay L.J. said at page 30:

"Whether he turns out at the trial to be right or wrong, a building which he has erected under such circumstances ought to be at once pulled down, on the ground that the erection of it is an attempt to anticipate the order of the court. To vary the order under appeal would hold out an encouragement to other people to hurry on their buildings in the hope that when they were once up the court might decline to order them to be pulled down. I think that this wall ought to be pulled down now without regard to what the result of the trial may be."

Depending on the facts of each case, the appropriate order which the court may make in order to restore the status quo between the parties may be an order to pull down a building an order declaring the defendant's act in question null and void or an order restraining the continuation or repetition of such offending act. The decision of Egbue J. in Isiadinso & Others v Igwe Osita Agwuna III & Another, Suit No. A/98/92 is a case in which the last two remedies were applied. After being served with notice of a motion to restrain them from holding a meeting scheduled for a specified date to consider the revised Constitution of Enugwu Ukwu Town, the defendants went ahead and held the meeting as scheduled, at which the Revised Constitution of Enugwu Ukwu Town was considered.

The Court, after positing to itself the question, "what then is the court to do in the circumstance of this application? Proceeding to make an order (I) declaring null and void the meeting held by the defendants on the scheduled date insofar as it considered or in any way dealt with the Revised Constitution of Enugwu Ukwu Town (ii) restraining the defendants, their servants agents and privies from holding any meeting to consider or in any manner deal with the Revised Constitution of Enugwu Ukwu Town. In the words of the Learned Judge:

"The action of the defendants is calculated to lower the authority of this court and to interfere with the course of justice... The cases show that where a party with notice or even knowledge of the motion hurried and concluded the act sought to be retrained by an injunction, the court does not accept the act as a fait accompli. The court has always redressed the balance as between the parties at page 10 of the cyclostyled judgment (emphasis supplied).

Thus the report of the investigating panel and the removal of Alamieyeseigha, based on the report, with knowledge of the pendency of the two suits are null and void under the principle of law laid down in these decided authorities.

To anticipate the legal consequences arising from the filing of the two suits, the members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly were again brought, under heavy police and military escort, from their temporary base in Abuja to Yenagoa. With the House surrounded by soldiers armed to the teeth, it sat, approved the panel's report and adopted a resolution removing Alamieyeseigha from office as Governor of Bayelsa State. This had to be done because it would have been an intolerable affront to the President to have allowed the law to override his will and power.

Conclusion

The plain, undeniable truth is that Governor Alamieyeseigha was removed from office, not by the members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly in accordance with the process provided by the constitution but by President Obasanjo, backed by the police and military forces under his control, and using the members of the House as mere tools or agents. That is a federal system the Federal Government should unconstitutionally arrogate to itself power to suspend the Governor of a State from office, as it did in Plateau State in May 2004, or to remove him completely, as happened in Bayelsa State in December 2005, is a subversion of federalism and a coup against the constitution.

It is sad that the true character of these events as a subversion of and a coup against the Constitution is being concealed from the Nigerian people by dressing them up in the garb of a "war' against corruption, which is a highly emotive cause intensely popular among the population. The Nigerian pubic sees every corrupt official as a criminal undeserving of the protection of the Constitution and the laws. But a people incapable of rising above this kind of depraved mob sentiment is not ripe for constitutional democracy. We must not let our understandable abhorrence of corruption overbear our faith in constitutional democracy and the Rule of Law as the most acceptable system for the government of human society. It is more regrettable that lawyers subscribe to this mob sentiment.

Finally, the war against corruption is a noble cause, which should be supported wholeheartedly and energetically by all Nigerians, but it should be fought according to, not in subversion of the rule embodied in the supreme law of the country.

Eddie, u are smart. It's OK o o o. Make una do for Bayelsa as una want am. I think Uncle sege would not have dared to send troops to Yenagoa without the consent of the Ijaw folks.

So, now I know why things are like this with Alams. I pity him. How can one win by fighting against his own people? Only a fool dare do that.

Goodluck Eddie.


Sounds like Goodluck Jonathan, ur new Guvnor.

Jakumo,
I would have just, kind of posted the link to that site for anyone to read the full gist. Apology to those who don't like reading long postings. But I guess Guardian news won't allow people to post their link. I'll try next time.

So, to make life easy for you, this is what the Guardian Editorial on Alams said, for short:

All of Alami's offences were impeachable enough, UNTIL the FG decided to ''take the laws into their hands and muddled up everything''

I hope that's OK by you.

Sounds like throwing away the baby with the bathwater to me.

My people, this is today's Guardian's Editorial on Alams. To me It's a 'balanced' view enough. What do you think?



Impeachment and arrest of Alamieyeseigha

THERE ought not to be misgivings about the impeachment of Chief Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha. But the process leading to that action gives cause for grave concern. Immediately he was removed, Alamieyeseigha was handcuffed, detained temporarily at the Police Headquarters, in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, and later flown to Abuja, for further detention and, possibly, extradition to the United Kingdom. Prior to his impeachment on Friday, December 9, 2005, Alamieyeseigha was the elected Governor of Bayelsa State.

He was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in London, on September 15, 2005, for money-laundering offences, detained and subsequently charged to court. He was later released on bail on conditions requiring him to stay back in London sine dine. Quite unaccountably, he jumped bail, and miraculously found his way to Yenagoa, his state capital, on November 21, 2005, becoming a fugitive from justice.

We had, in the recent past, done an editorial on the subject of Alamieyeseigha's unseemly escape from justice and the avoidable odium and ridicule he had incurred on his person and office. The thrust of this editorial, therefore, is on the style, legality and constitutionality of his impeachment. Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution, delineates the procedure (trial process) for the removal of an elected governor or deputy governor from office. The trial process as provided in the said section 188 has built-in mechanics for ensuring fair hearing and the principles of natural justice, including the doctrine of audi alteram parten (hear the other side). Natural justice, the Supreme Court once ruled in the case of Ariori v AG (Oyo State), "demands that a party must be heard before the case against him is determined. Even God gave Adam an oral hearing despite the evidence supplied by his act of covering his unclothedness..."

To ensure fair hearing and natural justice, the Constitution provides that, in the trial of a governor , a panel appointed by the Chief Judge of the State shall have three months (90 days) within which to make its findings and to report same to the House of Assembly. In the Alamieyeseigha case, the seven-man Panel, headed by Barrister David Serena Dokubo Spiff, was appointed on Tuesday, December 6, 2005.

It came up with a report, dated December 8, 2005, and tagged "Allegations without Evidence of Proof" which, according to its author (the seven-man panel), "are those allegations the facts supporting which are so self-evident that they do not require any proof (read 'defence'), and those allegations proof of which must require varying degrees of fact finding".

In the opinion of the seven-man panel, the two allegations against Governor Alamieyeseigha - the charge of money laundering levelled against him by the London Metropolitan Police and his escape from justice - were too self-evident to require his defence. But the Constitution provides that "the holder of an office whose conduct is being investigated under this section shall have the right to defend himself in person or be represented before the panel by a legal practitioner of his own choice". Quite clearly, to hold that some allegations were too self-evident to require proof, evidence or defence, represents a serious infraction of that constitutional provision, which contemplates the provisions of section 36 of the Constitution, requiring that every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be "given adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence", and to "defend himself in person or by legal practitioners of his own choice".

The David Serena Dokubo-Spiff-led panel further stated that "owing to non-availability of funds (the Federal Government had illegally and unconstitutionally frozen the Bayelsa State Federal Account), commonsense, therefore, dictates that we commence with those allegations in category 1, before addressing allegations in category II, stating allegations for which proof is unnecessary". The seven-man panel had hardly finished the first part of the report conveying its opinion on allegations which required no proof, evidence or defence, when , in less than 72 hours of its appointment, the House of Assembly, in circumstances that were less than honorable, pronounced Governor Alamieyeseigha impeached.

To facilitate Alamieyeseigha's impeachment, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had played a role that can hardly be reconciled to the powers bestowed on it by the instrument establishing it. It was widely reported that there was unwholesome arm-twisting, torture and inducement by the EFCC to the Bayelsa State lawmakers. On its own part, the Federal Government evidently and literally browbeat the Bayelsa lawmakers into doing what they should have done properly and with facility, under law, without prompting.

The Bayelsa State radio and television stations were closed down, contrary to sections 22 and 39 of the constitution, guaranteeing freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference; the State's Federation Account was frozen, contrary to section 165 of the Constitution; hundreds of armed soldiers and police were deployed to everywhere in the State; armoured tanks and sub-machine guns were positioned at the State House of Assembly and at the State High Court.

Two armoured tanks were placed directly opposite the Government House, where Governor Alamieyeseigha's office was located; armed soldiers positioned armoured tanks along the road leading to Amassoma, the Governor's hometown, etc. The question arises as to whether Nigeria is still a federation, or is now a unitary state and an autocracy.

The deployment by the President of the armed forces to Bayelsa State was clearly a contravention of the provisions of section 217 of the Constitution, which make such deployment subject to an act of the National Assembly. And consider that the deployment of the armed forces and police was made at a time when there was no insurrection to suppress!

The overt and covert assistance proffered by the Federal Government and its agencies to anti-Alamieyeseigha lawmakers of Bayelsa State was patently redolent of illegality and evil, being subversive of the letter and spirit of the 1999 Constitution.

There is hardly any doubt that the allegations levelled against Alamieyeseigha were weighty enough and would have earned him an impeachment, anyway, but the reckless and vulgar haste with which the impeachment trial was conducted leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Quite clearly, the casualties of that horrid impeachment exercise include due process, the rule of law and the concept of federalism.

@mingiix,

I'm sorry. I'm not Ijaw. I'm also sorry for the wrong use of words. I work with an oil producing company in Warri. I'm a Petroleum Engineer, member of the SPE, Worldwide.

There comes a time in a man's life that, except he's convinced otherwise, it's criminal for him to just accept news from any source and pass a verdict without taking a look at the total picture. Just like the Bible says, from the mouth of two or more winesses will the truth be established. It might interest you to know that I have never met Alams before in my life. Maybe at Kaiama, during our orientation, but not in person.

I have gone to Yenagoa several times this year, and I just marvel at the spate of developmental activities. Yenagoa could not compare with some of the towns in Delta state - like Ughelli and others before now. But a lot has been done to bring Yenagoa up to the standard befitting of a state capital. Maybe I'm myopic in my views, please enlighten me the more from London.

The future of Bayelsa belongs to you, Edward, and other Ijaw folks. And because you are not alone in the struggle for resource control, of which, Alams, through his able information commissioner, Oronto Douglas, championed at the recently concluded National Political Reform Conference in Abuja, we've got to pull our strengths together and get out of the doldrums we find ourselves in the Nigerian state. Peace.

@ former lecturer, Kenflavour,

I admire those who impart knowledge. If I had known this before now, I would have withdrawn my negative words. So, I want to apologise for responding so sarcastically. I'm now convinced that some folks serve in their state of origin. You should, at the least, be convinced by now that I am not a thief. It's OK.

And to every one:

Alams stole. He was caught and he's facing the music. Other thieves when caught, will face the music as well. I'm just repeating what I stated earlier on that I accept the verdict of the majority on this matter.

I think I should make myself very clear, for those of you who think I'm a front for Alams, and also those who cannot swallow what's the obvious in this case.

1) It has been established - although the matter is still in a court of law that Alams stole  - and because of that, all sorts of lies and 'jibiti' were added to make a truckload of sins for this man. He has asked for proof of evidence (through his lawyers) of all that he has allegedly stolen, but the FG attorney said they've dismissed the charges against him. The claimed the first attempt was an academic exercise! So, they want to come up with a second attempt.

And here's one Kenflavor telling the whole world how fraudulent Nigerians can be. As far as I know, and at the Kaiama Orientation ground where I did my NYSC orientation for three weeks, I did not meet any Ijaw man from Bayelsa state. True, I did not meet everyone at the camp to verify, but do I need to do that when, in my bunk alone, all the guys were from the middle-belt, SouthWest and Igbos! If there's any case like that, then it must be that of a woman (from Bayelsa) who for one reason like pregnancy, ill health and other such things was redeployed to serve in her state and possibly stay with her husband!

I have never heard of such treatment meted out to a guy in Nigeria - except of course through dubious means. I guess that's the style kenflavour's talking about. You know, meeting the officials at Abuja, and you know, paying them a lot of money so that one can be shipped from Taraba or Jigawa to PortHarcourt, or Warri - oil cities in the south so that they can follow in the footsteps of their elders who are now rogues in high places - milking the nation dry.

So, I put it to you, Kenflavor, that your likes are the people who are turning this country into a haven for rogues. Please tell me the states in question where those three friends of yours were posted (must be either Rivers, Delta or Lagos, right?)


2) Alams is in trouble. He has fallen out of favour with the powers that be. He that is down needs fear no fall - but should be afraid of falling objects! like shits from unreasonable people.


So, where do I stand?

* Lets stop accusing people without taking a 360 degree view of the isseus at hand - the Kettle (FG - OBJ and company) should stop calling the Pot black! Always look at the total picture before passing judgements.

*Let's come up with healthy discussions on discussions that affect our nation and be patriotic. We should not condone anything evil. There's no one without sin in this country. We've all sinned. We should pray for our nation, so that we can make a headway in future.

*It's Alams today, it can be anyone of us tomorrow. Let's bear that in mind.

Now, that said, I rest my case.

@mingiix:
Let me give you another blow, like I did to davidylan! I believe he's yet to recover from that blow. And I believe you(mingiix) will go down flat, after I might have given you a technical knockout!

1) You are a fraud: How? It is impossible for an indigene of a state to serve in (his/her) state of origin. We know this from status quo ante in NYSC procedures. You must be one of those who, when you attend a job interview, you cannot defend your claim that you did NYSC. Since you claimed you served in Bayelsa, and you are a Bayelsan, my first impression about you is that you are a rogue!

With that, I conclude that all your outbursts is another lie from the pit of hell.


FYI, I'm from one of the Niger Delta States, and if you are a Niger Deltan, I tell you, it's your type that will sell your birthright to go to London. You will give outsiders the clues to your wealth. Please cower your head in shame.

2) Once again, your type of story does not move someone like Ono. He's a tested and highly intelligent man. He lives in Warri and is in touch with reality. Your story is forged, cooked up and does not compute. You must be Akolawole's brother for all I care.

All that should take care of you.



Now, I stated before now that I don't want to contribute to this Alams story anymore. I decided to make a new entry, but the site admin deemed it fit to move it down here. I'm a man of my words. I'm still waiting for the real progressives in the country to contribute to my entry. I rest my case.

The president's sins have been listed in another entry. To me, these are ''impeachable enough'' offences. And instead of the president resigning honourably, he'll rather chase other people out of office. I wonder why he did not sack the aviation minister - that Borishade guy is a failure! But the president will rather keep him, to cause more havoc. I believe he's a professor of chaos.

Nigeria is one of such countries where executive lawlessness thrives, and no one can do anything about it. What a shame!

How in the world are we going to progress if we are retrogressing already! I don't know how some people reason.

I will not answer Akolawole. Let's wait for those who are the real progressives in the country to contribute to this matter. It's good to remain silent at times.

Pendelite,

The issue here is that of foreigners ''managing'' our internal crisis for us. Oil or no oil, the crises stares us in the face. And what are these crises? Internal strife, nepotism, tribalism,...I've listed them out here before now. We can hide under oil and say ''there is crises in the Niger Delta, and as such ''our'' economic interests are in serious trouble'' But, deep down in all of us, we know that the issues at stake are more than oil and some kinda economic interests...

Posers:
Is the Niger Delta crises that grievous that we need to engage the services of foreigners to quell it?

http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/cover/december05/15122005/f415122005.html

I have just read thru the latest on Alams, and I felt I should share it with my people. Please read the above link.

Quoting copiously from the above link:

1) ''Mr. Rotimi Jacob, who represented the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo, withdrew the old charges, saying his action was necessary because the accused person was no longer a governor who enjoyed immunity from trial under section 308 of the 1999 constitution.

2) Alamieyeseigha’s counsel, Mr. Moses Ofeoshi, had argued that the prosecution did not accompany the first charges with proof of evidence or an affidavit in support of his claims as required by law even as Mr Jacob asked the tribunal to issue a production warrant to enable police release Alamieyeseigha for arraignment before the tribunal.''


3) Immunity has suddenly become an academic exercise by the impeachment of the accused person. The argument has been overtaken by event. The previous application then has turned to a mere academic exercise.



FACTS:
1. We all know that it was because of the ''old charges'' that this man (Alams) was removed from office. So, why the ''U'' turn now that his counsel wants ''PROOF OF EVIDENCE'' or an AFFIDAVIT in support of his (Attorney Generals) claims?

I bet they could not produce either of the two, how? it was non-existent in the first place! - davidylan, Jakumo, etc are u folks still there with your truckloads of ''old charges''?

2. One can see how the lives and careers of people can be toyed with by a Cabal called PDP (People Deceiving People) in this case. The previous ''movie'' we watched about Alams has been branded a mere academic exercise!

3. It can be concluded, ''quod erat demonstrandum'' - QED, that the entire impeachment, capture, arrest (both London and Yenagoa) etc of Alams was a setup, a charade from EFCC and Abuja's Aso Villa. There's more to this matter than meet the ordinary eye.

Folks, it's not good to blow anything out of proportion. Thanks for the likes of nferyn and conscience. Since I joined this forum, these folks strike me as those that live in the ''real'' world.

I just read about the sins of Alams in another entry, and the folks there just like to swallow falsehood and stereotyped lies from some goons! Conscience and nferyn, could you please tell them to sit down when they read newspapers story and ask if the newspapers folks are not just blowing issues out of proportion to sell their wares or they are really telling the truth as it is.

Now, back to this issue at hand.

Some folks - especially the Edo people, may not like this, but since the creation of Delta State, things began to fall apart for them. Their fortunes have been on the downward slope - dwindling. And instead of concentrating on what's left for them as a state and develop it, they like heaping the blame on their leaders! Who did not know that the present day Benin ''City'' was built with crude oil money from the old Bendel State?

As for me, this is a fortaste of things to come. Untill we stop depending on the proceeds from crude oil sales, corruption, nepotism, backstabbing, ethnic bigotry, greed and all the evils associated with laziness will continue to haunt us as a people. And until we start to operate at the level of true democratic norms, we will continue to depend on foreign bodies for help on ''internal'' issues.

I have signed off on this matter, but it seems you guys are bent on convincing me to the contrary.

One bigblow to your outbursts (lists) of Alams sins is the source of the info - EFCC. The truth is that I don't trust the folks at EFCC - they are OBJs bootlickers and goons! And they only carry out his bidding on anything he's angry with.

Besides, a cursory look at some of the ''contents'' of the list is simply outrageous - you can easily detect ''fraud or lies'' in such things as Alams owning the ''Bayelsa State Governor’s lodge located at Iro Dan Musa Street, off T.Y. Danjuma Street, Asokoro Area, Abuja'' We all know that almost all the state governors have such things as Governors Lodge in Abuja. The reasons for this is not far fetched - to make accomodation of guests of the governor and the governor himself cheap and safe. Here in Delta state for instance, the state governor has a Governors Lodge in GRA Warri. What the heck is wrong with that one? How in the world could he name such an edifice as Bayelsa State Governor's Lodge and people just will conclude that he owns it?


Honestly, I'm befuddled that this kind of list will just sink into your sense of judgement - I mean swallow it hook, line and sinker and go to bed with it! Haba! try sit down and digest it's content, take some time out and reason why such things should be true. I call it 360 deg view about issues. Take a look at the ''Total picture'' ask questions. Don't get carried away with hatred for the man. For christs sake! he's a family man like most of us. Can't we be humane enough to at least weigh all these allegations in the light of reality?


This is the last time I will contribute anything on this matter.

My grouse about the whole thing is the non inclusion of the ''real'' owners of the land in the security arrangement.

It is ''possible'' that part of the 200,000barrels per day oil is what the ''Nigerian born tycoon billonaire'' - Kase Lawal is selling abroad! Reading btw the lines, you'd see the guy has offices in PH, Lagos, London and Jo'burgh. Sounds to me like he's a front for a cartel notorious for siphoning crude from Nigeria. At the mention of Nigerian cities of Lag and PH, the integrity of the guy is automatically dented.

Some folks just sit up there in Abuja and decides what happens to the oil in Warri and PH creeks. And they call it ''our'' oil. Ridiculous. It's more painful to note that these folks are not even from the Niger Delta. What's worse? they have the backing of some of the vagabonds from the Niger Delta. Oh Lord have mercy on their souls!

The logic here is that from ur utterances about the way the man left the UK, our sense of judgement can become warped at times........and that can be traced to many years of military misrule!

I might be wrong, please correct me, but given the gravity of the offence committed by Alams, I want to believe that a detachment of some Met Police folks should have been drafted to his residence to prevent the guy from going near any seaport or airport. If that's the case, then how on earth did he beat these security folks to it? - that he ''dressed as a fat ugly woman'' does not compute at all. But if that's not the case, I posit that the British Met. Police and Scotland Yard did a shoddy job of preventing the guy from leaving the UK. They should have taken a cue from OBJ when he drafted a detachment of Army and Mobile Policemen to secure Yenagoa and prevent Alams escape!

As per his financial dealings, Jakumo, believe me, Alams is not alone in this. I believe OBJ himself is guilty. His time will come, just like it did during the Abacha era. His time will come again.
And one should be free to correlate EVERYTHING, financial dealings and ALL with SHODDY security! Security matters a lot. If they were able to find out so much about Alams financial misgivings, then they should have put all the necessary machinery in place to prevent his escape from justice.....abi wetin my people think? Having gone through the stringent bail conditions imposed on Alams, I marveled at the way he escaped from Britain ''without'' their knowledge! C'mon man!, all these Alams story's a set up. He was framed up from the word go!

Remember, he spent THREE solid months in the UK over this money laundering thing. I expected that they would prosecute him immediately they found all those phony huge sums of money on him. But they foot-dragged, imposed ridiculous bail conditions, and even came to Abuja to see OBJ on what to do, when they know fully well that the whole story about the guy's dealings is a frame up from Aso Villa and EFCC!


Now, folks, lets leave this matter to the future to decide.......so much have been said.

Alams is not my governor. I'm not from Bayelsa state.

But you said the UK is a very POROUS country, I find it difficult here to correlate their porous nature with some kind of effective security networks - like Scotland Yard and Met Police....the security network that will allow Alams to leave their country undetected! Meticulous research and investigation my foot!

And what makes you think that it's still the highly efficient Scotland Yard of yesteryears that we still have in the UK after the country have been rated POROUS? Just a couple of years back, there was this story that made the rounds that even the Queens(- or is it the Prince of Wales?) private residence was invaded by some photo crazy journalist without their efficient security networks noticing the strange guy....... So much about British Security!

Just hear yourself! wow! '' The looting governor dressed as a fat ugly woman to escape trial in London, and that is how he evaded detection as he fled home like hunted antelope. No mystery there, as far as I can see''


Some people sef, just two days on this forum, and I'm getting convinced by the day that the long years of military misrule has done a lot of harm on us as a people in this country. What a country!

I humbly submit to the opinion of the majority on this matter. A thief, WHEN CAUGHT, should face the consequences of his/her actions anyday.

But we have to be careful in the way we look at matters like this. We all know that all the news about what Alams stole are at best ALLEGATIONS. His jumping bail in London is fraught with mysteries! Alams himself confessed that he did not know how he made it out of the UK!

Then came his impeachment: Lets not be partial in our views on this matter. That a serving governor was impeached within 72 hours of setting up a committee to investigate his wrongs is ridiculous in a democratic settings! And, we should appreciate the fact that this matter is heavily tainted with a lot of political manouverings. We should look at all these before we conclude that the man should be nailed!

As for me, I want to sign off on this matter, because of all the above FACTS. It's all shrouded in secrecy and bias! If this matter is put to vote of any kind, I'll remain neutral. I will not vote.

Ladies and Gentlemen, pls have a nice day.

Jakumo,

No, I said ''six years'' - read my entry very well...hmn.

Lets leave Alams for now, after all he's down and out.


I just read this one on the Punch now: I smell fish though.....I think I'll soon smell suya too...soon.....


Nigerian-born tycoon runs $1bn oil business in US

To hear Kase Lawal tell it, while his company has been successful in carving out a niche for itself, it still remains little more than a “drop in the bucket” when compared to its competitors. But when the bucket is the trillion-dollar energy industry, and the niche is pumping and processing crude from saturated oil fields in Africa, then a drop does not an Exxon make, but it is enough to make CAMAC Holdings the largest black-owned business in the world, and the unassuming 51-year-old CEO a modern-day oil magnate.

In fact, from oil exploration, refining and trading, Lawal’s Houston-based company raked in a mind-boggling $1billion in revenue last year alone. With offices in London, Johannesburg, Lagos and Port Harcourt, that totals about 100,000 barrels of crude every 24 hours.

“Business is great,” Lawal said of CAMAC, celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. “You just have to look at the newspaper to see the price of commodities.”

From his headquarters in a high-rise in the swank Galleria section of Houston, Texas, the Nigerian-born entrepreneur can see the world like few others, and reflect on a vision that has helped him overcome a civil war in his homeland and entrenched colour barriers in America, parlaying the best of the both worlds to claim a share of black gold in the historically lily-White oil industry.

Within CAMAC’s Houston offices, Lawal’s Nigeria, African roots and African-American influence are apparent. African art decorates the walls, while the talents of African-Americans can be seen throughout the corridors. An extremely private man, Lawal is reserved, yet dignified. But in business, Lawal’s bravado comes through. He will be the first to admit that searching for oil is not for the faint of heart. Big risks are taken in search of big rewards. “Sometimes, people think I’m crazy because I can sink in $40million looking for oil or gas; he said. “But if you catch it, if you get it, if you are able to get the reserves (strike oil), it pays for all of the other times you were unsuccessful. It’s an interesting business to be in.”

The great thing about drilling for oil is that once established, “this industry doesn’t know colour;’ he said. “It’s about your success in drilling and being able to find reserves.”

Much of his business acumen, he said, comes from his childhood experiences. He was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, a city of eight million people, about 100 miles north- west of Lagos. The son of a father who was a politician and a mother who was a textile store merchant in Ibadan, Lawal grew up during a time of political strife, as the liberation movement fought for freedom from British colonial rule.

Lawal remembers spending endless days at the United States Information Service reading about the similar struggles of blacks during the Civil Rights Movement in America. “I read anything I could lay my hands on,” he said. “I read about Martin Luther King. I was fascinated with the plight of Blacks. America had a tremendous influence on young people all over the world during those days. We were very interested in knowing what was happening. And most young people wanted to come to America. I was just one of the fortunate ones.”

He persuaded his parents to let him come to America to attend school. “I remember that morning,” he said. “I can still see my mother at the airport crying. It was the first time a person in my family was leaving home and going overseas. It was very difficult, but I was much more excited about what was ahead, and the curiosity of wanting to know what was in America.”

He headed straight for Georgia, the hotbed of freedom movement activity. He attended Fort Valley State University, before transferring to Texas Southern University, where he obtained a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering. He holds a master’s of business administration in finance and marketing from A&M University, Texas

Lawal’s first taste of the energy business came after graduation when he worked as a chemist for Dresser Industries (now Halliburton) and later a chemical engineer with Shell Oil Refining Company.

It wasn’t long before Lawal decided to venture out on his own. He started CAMAC first as an agriculture and commodities company that took tobacco from the South and made cigarettes to be sold overseas, but soon decided to use his knowledge of the energy industry to get into the field of oil exploration. But he ran into numerous problems trying to acquire land.

After being unsuccessful at nearly two dozen auctions, Lawal decided to go overseas. He was given a big boost in 1989 when the Nigerian government indicated that it wanted to encourage its people to get more involved in its lucrative oil industry. One of the people the government reached out to was Lawal, their native son. “Most people working on platform were Nigerians, but their bosses were the major oil company employees from the West,” Lawal said. “The government asked me to try to organise Nigerians in the US who were working for oil companies and would be interested in being technical partners with indigenous companies.”

He did, and in the process, realised that he could use his knowledge of Africa and America to gain a much bigger foothold in the industry. In 1991, Lawal signed several deals with major oil companies that would pave the way for the success that he enjoys today.

“The best way for me to get into the industry was to know what the big boys wanted, the major oil companies, the big 10, the big 50:’ he said. “Did they have an interest in West Africa? If they did, I would go to West Africa and look for what they wanted and made it available to them. I understood the political landscape and business environment in those countries in Africa. When you merge those two together, there was a good synergy that was very attractive to the major oil companies.”

drbigdaddy,
You be my man for this matter......All these people who are shouting crucify him have told several lies to day and for years now. None of dem fit claim say dem dey clean...If them give them chance dem go beat Alams records for stealing!

I hope you folks know that ''all'' the money you want to claim belongs to you actually belongs to the people of the Niger Delta? - since 1958 that crude was discovered in Oloibiri, near Alams village to date, how much has the other parts of the country contributed to the national purse? All we do is to shout and crucify people without facts and figures. We listen and read some cooked up stories about people and come here and shout. We don't even stop to ponder and reason properly (due in part to long years of military misrule), we just swallow the the stories hook, line and sinker.....May God forgive us all.

Alams town, Amassoma, for instance has several oil fields producing the golden egg that fills up the national purse and eventually makes up the national cake that Babangida, Atiku, OBJ and his Holding companies, farms and all, OGD, Abuja Minister, Danjuma, etc etc are feeding fat on. So can some one tell me why Alams should not take from something that comes from his backyard before thieves from other places will feed fat on it?

Someone said Gbenga Obasanjo was very rich before now. I will like EFCC to investigate the source of somebody who was a university student in New York and after graduation bought a mansion in New York during his father's tenure as President. When the lid was blown open, they quickly covered it up and to date nothing has been said about it....

.....the new Bayelsa speaker wants security forces to remain PERMANENTLY in Yenagoa...... My people, if truly ''due process'' was followed in the ''impeachment'' of Alams and his subsequent arrest, do you think they need security forces to remain stationed permanently in Yenagoa - to quell any uprising? If the constitution of the country was truly followed in his ''impeachment'' - no hasty conclusion, no teleguiding from EFCC, no remote control from Aso villa, and no forged signatures! No threats about some phony ''constituency projects'', do you think the people will not fully embrace these guys who ''impeached'' Alams - to save them from Alams?

Most of you folks have never been to Yenagoa - no doubt, from what I've been reading! I served (NYSC) in Bayelsa State, and I know what's on ground there. I know how difficult it is to construct one kilometre of road over there. I also know that it took a lot of guts from Alams for the FG to consider linking up the state to the National Grid. As I write, they guys on site are working to link up the state to the grid... Do you think the people did not appreciate all these. The Niger Delta University in Wilberforce Island is a legacy site for all Niger Delta People. Many Bayelsans have been gainfully employed during Alams tenure. Nobody was complaining in Yenagoa in particular and Bayelsa in general before OBJ came and suspended the state allocation.

My people have you ever stopped for once and ponder over this Alams jumping bail matter? Do you think someone like Alams will leave the UK soil without the knowledge of the British security apparatus? Lets face it. I repeat, do you think Alams will LEAVE the UK without the knowledge of the British security forces in these days of terrorism? That he dressed like a woman has been confirmed false! Intelligence reports has it that he was actually escorted out of England by their security forces!

Tony Blair's silence on OBJs letter is instructive. Silence is the best answer to a fool! And for those of you who think Britain has been collaborating with looters from Nigeria, I tell you British interests all over the world is far greater than whatever a Nigerian ''thief'' has got to offer them... and even the entire country as a whole have got to offer them!

Jakumo,
I be Waffi (Warri - Just in case u don't know what Waffi means) man o! When it comes to 'gbege'' You know, no one can beat a Waffarian to it in the entire Nigeria! I want to tell you that OBJ's anti-corruption drive is selective in clear terms. I don't give a dime what others think. I'm baring my mind here.

Pls note that I'm not in outer space, I'm right here in the heart of the Niger Delta. I've not been dreaming either, I'm wide awake and I've been following the events leading to the ''capture'' not ''arrest and impeachment'' of Alams. To me, this war btw OBJ and Alams has some elements of muscle-flexing and power-flexing than anything constitutional. It's jungle war cum justice being displayed in full glare of all of us. A rape on democratic norms. And the earlier we nip this ugly trend in the bud the better for the future of our dear country.

''Every'' information on Alams from the start were forged to deceive us and to achieve their purpose....just as NTA and the information minister deceived us on the location of the Bellview Air mishap. PDP means People Deceiving People - and that's what they've lived up to over the years. Please don't let them deceive you too...

There are many thieves walking free right under OBJs nose up there in Abuja and he simply cannot do anything about them! They will at best go after his throat and unmask him - if he dares them! It is the arrogance and impunity of Alams that he cannot bear. I can imagine what Alams' sin are: Resource control fight and Enthronment of true democratic norms - otherwise he too will be walking free with his loot by now. He (Obasanjo) wants people to be loyal to him and his govt - but he flouts court orders with impunity!

Alams stole for more than six years. But since he was in the good books of the PDP, they saw nothing wrong with that. And just like the ordinary policeman on the highway demanding N20 note from all of us and then later share the proceeds (loot) at the police stations with their superiors, Alams was sharing the loot with the PDP until he refused to do same again. He, in the process, incured the wrath of the powers that be. Someone said Alams did not donate to OBJs Library at Abeokuta.


I'll ask some questions to buttress my points here.

* Where did the owner of Obasanjo Holdings get the money to set up The Bells group of school and Bells University? - what moral justification has he to erect such structures in his home state when Delta State, the largest oil producing state in the country (N5 trillion came to Federal coffers in 2005 from Delta) has no Federal University, even when it has been confirmed that Delta has one of the highest number of students waiting to gain admissions to universities?

*What happened to OBJ's son when he bought a mansion in New York under questionable - let me use his words - ''SURREPTITIOUS'' circumstances? The case has suddenly gone under, buried!

...there are many others


and,

* I will like OBJ to arrest IBB, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Theophilus Danjuma etc - afterall their names appeared in a list sent to him by the World Bank as the ''real'' looters of the Nations economy and treasury....


Nemesis will catch up with all those who wants to ruin our dear country.....right from the top to the bottom....and all their collaborators.....

May God open the eyes of the likes of Jakumo to see the truth and stop chasing shadows! I rest my case

I have read thru most of the comments on this matter.....I'm new here... But I must state that I am dissappointed - at least from most of the contributions on this matter - I'm not Alams stooge or any of his boys..

Since when did we stop thinking rationally as Nigerians? I think the long years of military rule (misrule?) have really impacted greatly on our psyche and our thinking faculty. What a shame. I just pray we are not heading for doom in this country.

All said, I KNOW that Alamieyeseigha is innocent of all the charges proffered against him. He's being prosecuted for daring to shout against the excesses of a wild leader, a maximum ruler. We all know that we did not elect him. He was forced on us all by some strange forces bent on emasculating us, in the name of giving us the ''....dividends of democracy, continuity etc etc'' which I'm yet to understand.

Na wah o, I'm new here..... I just bought a Honda Car and I did not know how to drive, I used to think that the procedure for getting a driving license in the country is stressful until now.....