Diyepreye Alamieseigha

Diyepreye Alamieseigha Biography / Profile

Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha was born in Amassoma, Southern-Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria, on November 16th, 1952. Known simply as DSP, he is the first elected governor of Bayelsa state.

Alamieyeseigha came to politics from a military background, having been trained at the Nigerian Defence Academy. He retired from the Air Force in 1992 as a Squadron Leader. His reelection as governor in 2003 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after a four-year term, resulted in an unravelling from which he never recovered.

Diyepreye Alamieseigha Age

Diyepreye Alamieseigha would have been 71 years old, if he were alive today. May his soul rest in peace.

Diyepreye Alamieseigha Early Life

Alamieyeseigha grew up in Bayelsa where he attended the Bishop Dimeari Grammar School, Yenagoa. He joined the Nigerian Defence Academy as a Cadet Officer in 1974, then joined the Nigerian Air Force, where he served in the department of Logistics and Supply.

Diyepreye Alamieseigha Career

After joining the Air Force, Alamieyeseigha held various air force positions in Enugu, Markurdi, Kaduna and Ikeja. He retired from the air force in 1992 as a Squadron Leader. He was elected Governor of Bayelsa State in May 1999 as a member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and re-elected in 2003.

In September 2005, the UK’s Metropolitan police had detained him after finding about £1 million cash on him, and another £1.8 million in cash and accounts. He was subsequently charged with money laundering but he jumped bail after allegedly disguising as a woman, an allegation he denied. He was impeached by the Bayelsa State House of Assembly on December 9th, 2005. He was suceeded by his deputy, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. He believed former President Olusegun Obasanjo masterminded his trial and ruined him politically because he opposed Obasanjo’s rumoured third term agenda.

In July, 2007, Alamieyeseigha was sentenced to two years in prison and many of his assets were ordered to be forfeited to the Bayelsa state government. He was discovered to have owned real estate in London worth £10 million. In December 2009, the federal government hired a British law firm to help dispose of four expensive property acquired by Alamieyeseigha in London.

In 2012, the US Department of Justice announced that it had executed an asset forfeiture order on $401,931 in a Massachusetts brokerage fund, traceable to Alamieyeseigha. He was pardoned by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 on his conviction for corrupt practices as Governor of Bayelsa.

Diyepreye Alamieseigha Personal Life

Alamieyeseigha was married to Margaret Alamieyeseigha and they had three children - Victor Alamieyeseigha, Oyamuyefa Alamieyeseigha (who died in October 2014 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates), and Tombra Alamieyeseigha.

On October 10th 2015, Alamieyeseigha died at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital of apparent heart failure shortly after returning from Dubai as words reached him that the Interpol wanted him for corruption-related offenses. He was buried in April 2016 at his hometown of Amassoma, Southern-Ijaw local government area.