The Yenagoa High Court will, on Wednesday, January 27, commence trial in a suit instituted by the former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha praying that the court compel the Federal Government and the National Assembly to reinstate him as the governor of the state.
The former Air Force officer lost the position when he was impeached in 2005 by the state House of Assembly after his indictment for corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The former governor had filed a suit earlier in 2005 after his removal from office, but a federal appeals court in Abuja had ruled that the case be returned to a high court in Bayelsa for retrial.Mr Alamieyeseigha, popularly called the Governor-General of the Ijaw Nation, was removed after he was indicted by a panel set up by the state government in 2005 to investigate allegations of financial recklessness against him.
A running battle with the then president of the country, Olusegun Obasanjo and an encounter with the London Metropolitan Police, which arrested him for money laundering, were also part of the problems that put paid to his governorship career.
He was replaced by his then deputy and current Vice President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan.
Executive battle
The former governor has also been enmeshed in a political battle with the current governor of the state, Timipre Sylva. c Some of his choice properties within and outside the country were confiscated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the aftermath of his impeachment and trial.
Mr. Alamieyeseigha had stayed out of politics since then, only to resurface during the state gubernatorial bye-election in which he surprisingly supported the incumbent governor against his nephew, Ebitimi Amgbare who contested under the platform of the Action Congress (AC).
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