THE United States (US) Government has returned $954,000 allegedly stolen by Bayelsa State former governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
The US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, announced this at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, February 16.
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The money was returned to Bayelsa State through the Federal Government.
Leonard revealed that the official salary of the former governor during his tenure as a public servant from 1999 to his impeachment in 2005 did not match the said amount.
“However, during that time, he accumulated millions of dollars through abuse of office, money laundering,” she said.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has immediately directed that the said sum be utilized in developing the public healthcare sector in Bayelsa State.
Alamieyeseigha was a Nigerian politician who served as the governor of Bayelsa State from 1999 to 2005. He was born on November 16, 1952, in Amassoma, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, and died on October 10, 2015, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Alamieyeseigha was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was elected as the governor of Bayelsa State in 1999, following Nigeria’s return to democracy after decades of military rule. He was re-elected for a second term in 2003 but was impeached by the Bayelsa State House of Assembly in 2005 over allegations of corruption.
After his impeachment, Alamieyeseigha went into exile in the United Kingdom, where he was arrested in September 2005 on money laundering charges.
He was later released on bail but jumped bail and returned to Nigeria in 2007, where he was rearrested and charged with corruption.
In July 2007, Alamieyeseigha pleaded guilty to corruption charges and was sentenced to two years in prison.
He was, however, released the following day on the grounds that he had already served his sentence while in custody in the UK.
Despite his legal troubles, Alamieyeseigha remained a popular figure in Bayelsa State and was referred to as the “Governor-General of the Ijaw Nation” until his death.
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