bayelsa state, Mr. Alamieyeseigha, he may be paid billions of naira,
the value of the assets seized from him after his conviction for money
laundering.
Recall that President Goodluck Jonathan had granted Mr. Alamieyeseigha
a presidential pardon, rendering the former Bayelsa State governor a
freeman.
While Mr. Alamieyeseigha was convicted, properties he acquired from
his money laundering regime were seized, and most of them sold by the
federal government.
After his pardon, since his rights and privileges will be restored
according to Nigerian law, it is uncertain if he will retrieve the
items or the value of the items he corruptly acquired from the
Nigerian government.
Some lawyers say the presidential pardon bestowed on Mr.
Alamieyeseigha grants him fresh rights to the items he acquired with
wealth he stole. All, however, condemned the pardon granted the
fugitive, who is still wanted in the U.K. for jumping bail after he
was arrested for money laundering.
Though both the Federal Government and Mr. Alamieyeseigha are yet to
speak on the forfeited property, lawyers said the former Bayelsa
Governor has a case to demand the return of his forfeited property and
may infact go to court for same.
Should he achieve success in court, and since the property have
largely been disposed off, the federal government may pay billions of
naira in lieu of the property.
Arguing on the issue, an activist lawyer and Senior Advocate of
Nigeria, Femi Falana, said the precedence of an Appeal Court ruling on
what pardon means, implies Mr. Alamieyeseigha can ask for his asset to
be returned and actually get them.
"This is the implication of a full pardon," he said.
Mr. Falana cited the case of Olu Falae versus Obasanjo, where Mr.
Falae challenged the eligibility of former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, to contest for presidential election in 1999 saying the
former military head of state was not granted full pardon by the then
military junta.
"According to the Court of Appeal in the case of Falae V Obj, it means
that a man who has been pardoned is a new man (homo novus) in the eye
of the law. The conviction and sentence are wiped out and he is
entitled to the full restoration of his rights and privileges as well
as the return of his seized assets," Mr. Falana said.
While challenging the result of the presidential 1999 election, Mr.
Falae had argued that Mr. Obasanjo did not get "full pardon" from Gen.
Abdulsalami Abubakar after his conviction for involvement in the 1995
coup plot and therefore is not qualified to contest the election.
But the Court of Appeal while dismissing Mr. Falae's argument had ruled that:
"The word used under Section 161 (1) and Exhibit 11 is "pardon", and
in this context, pardon may be with or without any conditions. It is
clear from Exhibit 11 that the pardon granted to the 1st Respondent
was not made subject to any conditions. In my view, under the Nigerian
law, a "pardon" and "full pardon" have no distinction. A pardon is an
act of grace by the appropriate authority which mitigates or
obliterates the punishment the law demands for the offence, and
restores the rights and the privileges forfeited on account of the
offence. The effect of a pardon is to make the offender, a new man
(novus homo), to acquit him of all corporal penalties and forfeiture
annexed to the offence pardoned. I am of the view, that by virtue of
the pardon contained in Exhibit 11, the disqualification of the 1st
Respondent was to suffer because of his conviction, has been wiped
out."
Some other lawyers, however, disagree with this interpretation.
"The forfeitures were made before the pardon was granted, so what
happens if the properties forfeited to the Federal government have
been sold to a third party," asked activist lawyer,Bamidele Aturu.
"When you forfeit something, it is what you forfeit that you will get
back. Those goods have been forfeited to the Federal Government there
is no way this act of pardon can release that. So I don't know by what
legal abragadabra that anybody will say that the forfeited goods
should be handed over to him unless they want to perpetrate serious
fraud on Nigerian people.Those properties have been forfeited and
forfeited for life," he added.
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