Former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, has been confirmed dead by a family member.

Alamieyeseigha, 62, who was governor of Bayelsa State between 1999 and 2005, when he was impeached for corruption, was taken to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in Rivers State after developing a strange illness in his hometown, Amassoma, in Southern Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa State.

The former governor is said to have lost consciousness two days before he passed on Saturday.

Alameyeiseigha is, probably, the most disgraced elected public official in Nigeria.

He was arrested in Lomdon in September 2005 but jumped bail and escaped to Nigeria famously dressed as a woman.

Upon his return to Nigeria, the state House of Assembly impeached him, with his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, who later became president, succeeding him.

After his impeachment, Alamieyeseigha was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and prosecuted for money laundering and on July 26, 2007, was sentenced to two years in prison by Justice Mohammed Shuabu of the Federal High Court, Lagos.

Alameyeseigha had pleaded guilty to the money laundering charges preferred against him.

However former President Jonathan granted him presidential pardon in 2013, an action that was  widely condemned.

There had recently been reports that Britain might be revisiting his case and a request for his extradition sent to the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, which had sought the cooperation of the West in fighting corruption.