Indication emerged that the United Kingdom is still interested in the extradition of a former Bayelsa State governor, Dipreye Alamieyeseigha, to Britain to face charges of money laundering.
A diplomatic source on Wednesday told Punch that the British Government would press for Alamieyeseigha’s extradition all over again. The source noted that the UK had earlier requested Alamieyeseigha’s extradition but that did not get any response from former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
The source cited the statement credited to the former British High Commissioner, Andrew Pocock, who said the UK had asked Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice for Alamieyeseigha’s extradition. “As Pocock said, the UK had requested the former governor’s extradition and the request is still pending, which means that the British Government will press the (President Muhammadu) Buhari’s administration to respond to the extradition request and we have no doubt it would be carried out,” he said.
Pocock had, during a media interview, said Britain was still waiting for Nigeria’s response to the extradition request for Alamieyeseigha. The envoy had said, “The former governor skipped bail in the UK on a charge of money laundering and returned to Nigeria. So, he has an outstanding charge in the UK, which is there for him to answer.
“We have already discussed it and the Nigerian government knows our views. But we would like to see him return and answer charge in the UK. “We have asked the Attorney General. He will have to tell us what his position is on extradition. I haven’t had a reply yet, but we still wait for it.”
The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, had also said the UK had every legal right to demand the extradition of Alamieyeseigha to London. Sagay said Buhari would do well by extraditing the former governor to the UK. Alamieyeseigha was jailed by a Nigerian court in 2007 for corruption and was made to forfeit stolen properties to the government but he received pardon from Jonathan in 2013.
The former President had served as Alamieyeseigha’s deputy in Bayelsa between 1999 and 2005, when he was arrested at the Heathrow Airport in London for money laundering.
