US embassy cable - 05LAGOS1867

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 001867 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/W 
STATE FOR INR/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, NI 
SUBJECT: IMPEACHMENT AFFIRMED, BAYELSA GOVERNOR ARRESTED 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General Brian L. Browne for Reason 1.4 (D) 
 
 1.  (U) Apparently at the urging of the Federal Government, 
impeachment proceedings against the Bayelsa State governor 
moved at lightning speed with the Speaker of the State 
Assembly announcing today that Governor Alamieyeseigha has 
been impeached.  The impeachment removed the constitutional 
shield of immunity that had protected the governor. 
Alamieyeseigha was quickly arrested and taken by security 
agents to an unknown destination.  Some media reports he has 
been flown to Abuja and may soon be returned to London to 
face trial over money laundering charges.  Other sources 
indicate that he is still in Yenagoa.  Following his arrest, 
police and military personnel took over the governor's 
offices and began patrolling major roads in the capital. 
 
2.  (U) Mission sources report that after the Speaker 
announced that seventeen members of the twenty-four member 
House had voted for impeachment the legislators were moved 
under armed escort to neighboring Rivers State. 
 
3.  (C) According to the Nigeria Constitution, the House 
could only move to impeachment after receiving the report of 
a seven-person panel established by the State Chief Justice 
to investigate the allegations against Alamieyeseigha.  That 
panel was set up on December 5.  It is unknown whether the 
legislature received the panel's report prior to voting on 
the impeachment. 
 
4.  (C) Comment:  The House action came quickly and was 
likely spurred by Abuja.  A lingering constitutional question 
is whether the House action was predicated on the panel's 
report.  If not, the House acted unconstitutionally.  But in 
the entire episode both sides have ignored the parts of the 
law that inconvenienced them.  Perhaps of greater consequence 
will be the reaction of Alamieyeseigha's Ijaw brethren.  The 
Ijaw militias could cause significant trouble if sufficiently 
provoked.  Their reaction will reveal whether they look at 
him as a genuine champion of the Ijaws or were they just 
opportunistically at his side as long as he had deep pockets. 
 Apparently, his opponents in Bayelsa and in Abuja are 
betting on the latter.  End comment. 
BROWNE