The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Andrew Pocock has said that former Bayelsa State governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was recently granted state pardon still has a case to answer in the United Kingdom.
He told correspondents in Abuja Wednesday that the decision to grant the impeached governor state pardon was a surprise to them as they were already making plans to extradite Alamieyeseigha to the United Kingdom to answer a case of money laundering levelled against him.
Alamieyeseigha until his dramatic escape from the custody of British authorities in September 2005 was a serving governor and Pocock says the move to pardon him even when the application for his extradition to Britain was still pending would not deter the British government from prosecuting him.
Pocock noted that since Alamieyeseigha skipped bail in the UK on a charge of money laundering and returned to Nigeria, it clearly shows that he has an outstanding charge, which he has to answer.
He posited that there are no plans by the UK government to impose sanctions on Nigeria because of the state pardon granted Alamieyeseigha, adding that both governments are in talks to see how the impeached governor would answer to the case brought against him.
According to Pocock, “Well, it is something that we have discussed privately with many in the Nigerian government; it is seriously open to misinterpretation. So I won’t say more than that at this stage because we have already discussed it and the Nigerian government knows our views. But we would like to see him return and answer to the charge in the UK.”
He stated further that the British government would not resort to retaliation should the Nigerian government fail to extradite Alamieyeseigha to the UK but they would wait and see how things play out.
He described corruption in Nigeria as a recurring decimal that comes and goes. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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I ceriously dun andastand Nigeria... Dis man is a prudulent man n he has been granted a state pardon!... 4 wot???...
ReplyDeleteHe need Obasanjo @ dis point in tym