IMPEACHMENT AFFIRMED, BAYELSA GOVERNOR ARRESTED

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