Ten years
after, the anger arising from the impeachment and subsequent
imprisonment of former Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Solomon Peter
Alamie-yeseigha by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration
is still reverberating even though Alamieyeseigha claims he has forgiven
Obasanjo.
Alamieyeseigha, who spoke to Saturday Vanguard
in his country home in Yenagoa, said that he had forgiven all those who
plotted and sent him to jail purely for political reasons even though
the experience remains very painful to him.
The former governor was impeached and
removed from office in December 2005 and was subsequently sent to jail
for alleged mismanagement of Bayelsa State funds.
Some of his property alleged to have
been secured with stolen funds in and outside Nigeria were confiscated
and given to Bayelsa State by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) working in conjunction with foreign security agencies.
But Alamieyeseigha, who was granted
state pardon by his former deputy governor and immediate past President,
Dr Goodluck Jonathan, last year, said that Obasanjo has not known peace
because of the role he played in events leading to his impeachment,
arrest and subsequent imprisonment.
He recalled that Obasanjo nearly fainted
the first time he met him after his release from prison. He said the
former president, who met him accidentally at the Katsina Airport became
jittery on seeing him and managed to shake hands with
him. Alamieyeseigha said: “I have forgiven all those who plotted against
me, including former President Obasanjo. I know all those who plotted
against me and sent me to jail. I cannot be living in the past as it
does not help me in any way.
“What I passed through is painful all
right but it would not have happened if it was not permitted by God. It
is even more important to me that I am still alive today because I
passed through many shadows of the valleys of death and still came out
of them.
‘’I have met Obasanjo at very close quarters twice since I came out of prison.
“I did not know that he was at the VIP
Lounge at the Katsina Airport to attend the marriage of the late
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s daughter. Obasanjo came face to face
with me at the airport when I went to use one of the rest rooms. It
happened that as I opened the door to ease myself, I saw Obasanjo
sitting face to face with me and he almost passed out.
“But I held his hands. He was scared and
he felt uneasy all through. Then he began to ask ‘DSP, DSP, DSP! What
have I done to deserve shaking your hands?’ There were many people
there, one of them was Kenny Martins, the then chairman of the Police
Equipment Fund.
“I told Obasanjo ‘I was only shaking you
for two reasons: one-because of the fear of the Almighty God, who
created us and two, for the fact that I am the Ganuma Katsina and you
are a visitor to my emirate and tradition demands that I should welcome
visitors’.
“That prompted Kenny to get up also and greet me, saying ‘great leader, great leader’ and he came and hugged me.’’
The former governor said his second
post-prison encounter with Obasanjo took place aboard a Dubai-bound
flight where the former president met him seated in the business class
and addressed him as ‘Fayose’ out of fear.
His words: “The second encounter with
Obasanjo was when we met on a flight going to Dubai. When Obasanjo came,
I was already seated in the Business Class and he had no choice but to
greet me.
“But because of possible fear of seeing
me, Obasanjo called out ‘Fayose, Fayose, Fayose.’ I protested to him
that I am not Fayose and I said: ‘Former President Olusegun Matthew
Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo, you are a devil incarnate.’”
“I warned him not to talk again or he
would face my anger. And I tell you, throughout the flight he could not
say anything to me.
“The only thing Obasanjo managed to say
was to ask me whether I was the only one who had ever been sent to the
prison. ‘DSP, is it only you that entered prison? Don’t you remember
that I was also imprisoned? You entered prison and I also did’.’’
In spite of his criticism of the former president, Alamieyeseigha, still has some kind words for Obasanjo.
Describing Obasanjo as a leader, who
keeps his word and works hard, the former governor said he has a dossier
on Obasanjo and would reveal it in his forthcoming memoirs to enable
Nigerians know what the man had been doing since 1966.
“But one thing I know about Obasanjo is
that he is a leader. If Obasanjo gives you his word, it remains his
bond. You can call him any time of the night, and he will pick his phone
directly.
“He is ready to sit with you on how to
solve a problem but he would not allow you to talk. That is the type of
character he is. I have a dossier on Obasanjo and I will expose him and
Nigerians will read it in my memoir,” Alamieyeseigha said.
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