People have the right to express their opinions. The Federal Government has taken a decision and I don’t think those people who are criticising my state pardon have the information the Federal Government has. They don’t know the contributions I have made towards the sustenance of peace in the country. Maybe the impact of my contribution would have been felt if there had been no oil and no money to share at the federal level. Because things are so rosy and at the end of the month they go to Abuja and share the money, they don’t feel the impact and don’t realise that people went into the creeks; slept in every camp to make sure that amnesty was achieved. Even the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, will agree how many commendation letters he himself wrote to me congratulating and thanking me for what I did. I risked my life by going as far as the high seas several times to rescue expatriates. People have forgotten all these things. My state pardon was a negotiated item. Number one is that I was going to be given pardon.
Who negotiated the pardon with you?
The Federal Government; the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s government. Goodluck Jonathan was only a part of the negotiating team. The press recorded and reported it that when I was detained by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) , Vice President Goodluck Jonathan visited me. It was part of the process. It is what Yar’Adua would have done. What is even this corruption that they are talking about? The whole thing was political and one day I will expose everybody. I have started writing; people are ignorant of what really happened, so they can talk. But if I open my mouth, some of them will keep quiet. President Jonathan was part of the negotiating team. There is no person in this country that understands the issues surrounding Alamieyeseigha better than Mr. President. He was my deputy governor and he knew everything that happened then. I am already writing my memoirs. At the appropriate time, you will know
You mean President Yar’Adua actually started the state pardon deal with you?
Yes, otherwise they would have even killed me. Without Yar’Adua, I would have died by now because so many attempts were made.
Who are those after your life?
Well, he is somebody all of you know. Somebody you would describe as oga at the top. You know them and I will reveal them at the appropriate time.
Can you give us the description of that person?
You know him and he will be exposed one day.
So, you believe your pardon was in order?
Yes. Like I said, this pardon was negotiated and if I fulfill my own part of the bargain, then why shouldn’t the Federal Government fulfill its part?
Considering how you were arrested outside the country and the events that followed, would you say that the British government connived with its Nigerian counterpart against you?
Didn’t you hear that our own Attorney- General went to the British court to say that Alamieyeseigha should not be allowed to come home? Have you ever heard that a sovereign nation will go to another sovereign nation to say that its own national should not come home? When people commit offence, they run away from their countries. This one wanted to come back, they said he should not come back to his own country. Nuhu Ribadu was at the airport to identify me.
There were several reports on how you escaped to Nigeria. Did you actually sneak into the country dressed like a woman as it was reported then?
Why didn’t they arrest me if I dressed like a woman? It is nonsensical. It was a computer graphic by a newspaper and there was an annotation under that photograph. People did not look at that. How can a Governor-General dress like a woman to escape?
What do you think actually led to your travails?
The summary of it is that Atiku Abubakar, according to Obasanjo, nominated me as his running mate. End of story. Obasanjosaid it was over his dead body and that he would fight me and Atiku to the end of the world. He said that unless he dies, Atiku could not be president of Nigeria. That was the beginning and the end of the story. But again, I am going to tell my story one day.
Did you take his (Obasanjo) threat seriously?
Maybe the only mistake I made was that I left this country to Germany for medical surgery. Again, I made a mistake of calling him when I recovered from the surgery. I told him that I just came out from the theatre. I started having funny calls and they started plotting against me.
How would you describe the drama that surrounded your impeachment?
I did not appear before any panel. My House of Assembly people were forcefully carried to Awolowo Road in Lagos. They were made to sign my impeachment at gun point. They were taken to Abuja and with full police back-up and tanks taken to Yenogoa to pronounce my impeachment. Everybody knows what happened.
Did Jonathan, who was your deputy then, support your impeachment?
If he had not succumbed, he would have gone with me. They would have taken me and him out.
So, no ill-feeling against Jonathan at any point.
No way. He is my younger brother.
Did he give you any support in your time of trouble?
He will always be my younger brother. If he did not succumb to what they did… He is only one person and of course he would have also been removed.
Have you spoken to Obasanjo since then?
There is no need. The damage has been done but I have told him face to face that I have forgiven him and I have forgiven everybody.
Is it true that you want to be a Senator come 2015?
It is not true. I am not talking about politics. I enjoy my freedom.
What is your view about the crisis between President Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State?
I have told Amaechi himself that he should learn from my experience, that nobody tries government. He should learn that after God, it is government. Amaechi is in a regional government. There is Federal Government and there is a president and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Let me say that most of these things, the president himself may not know. It is people around that are creating this entire problem. If you call the two of them and sit them down, I am sure they would not be able to tell you what has happened between them.
Talking about the issue of 2015 presidency, many people believe that the South should be allowed to continue to be in power, the North having had their own share. What is your opinion?
This is a free country. Freedom of speech is key in a democracy. They have their own opinions. But I would tell you without any doubt that President Jonathan will remain President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come 2015.
But there is a strong opposition from the North?
They will all, at the appropriate time, join the moving train.
What is your position on the recent declaration of state of emergency by the president in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states?
I am fully in support of the decision by the president. He exhibited courage and that is what he should do. He is the Commander- in-Chief and he is backed by the constitution. The life of Nigerians, which he has sworn to protect, can no longer be taken anyhow.
The point now is that some members of Boko Haram, having been overpowered in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states are moving to some other states. Is President Jonathan going to declare state of emergency in those areas where Boko Haram has allegedly moved to?
I think that the Federal Government waited for too long. Some of these people have already infiltrated other states, but they cannot garner that formidable force to cause any colossal damage. Yes, they can strike and run, but the Federal Government is well equipped and capable of handling such isolated cases.
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