Top 5 Nigerian Politicians Who Have Been To Prison

In this article, RNN will be discussing five prominent Nigerian politicians who have been to the four walls of the prison in their lifetime, whether as a result of conspiracy, fraud, corruption or money laundering.

1. Olusegun Obasanjo

Chief Olusegun Matthew Obasanjo GCFR, born 5 March 1937, is a Nigerian retired military officer and statesman who served as Nigeria’s head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 2007. Ideologically a Nigerian nationalist, he was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from 1998 to 2015, and since 2018.

Openly critical of Sani Abacha’s administration, in 1995 Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was arrested and convicted of being part of a planned coup, despite protesting his innocence. While imprisoned, he became a born-again Christian, with providentialism strongly influencing his subsequent worldview. He was released following Abacha’s death in 1998.

2. Diepreye Alamieyeseigha

Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, born 16 November 1952 was a Nigerian politician who was Governor of Bayelsa State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 9 December 2005.

Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was detained in London on charges of money laundering in September 2005. At the time of his arrest, Metropolitan police found about £1m in cash in his London home. Later they found a total of £1.8m ($3.2m) in cash and bank accounts. He was found to own four homes in London worth an alleged £10 million. His state’s monthly federal allocation for the last six years has been in the order of £32 million. He jumped bail in December 2005 from the United Kingdom by allegedly disguising himself as a woman, though Alamieyeseigha denies this claim. Alamieyeseigha was impeached on allegations of corruption on 9 December 2005.

On July 26, 2007, Alamieyeseigha pleaded guilty before a Nigerian court to six charges and was sentenced to two years in prison on each charge; however, because the sentences were set to run concurrently and the time was counted from the point of his arrest nearly two years before the sentences, his actual sentence was relatively short. Many of his assets were ordered to be forfeited to the Bayelsa state government. 

3. James Ibori

James Onanefe Ibori, born 4th of August 1959 is a Nigerian politician who was Governor of Delta State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. James Ibori is a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He is a leader in the Niger Delta region and a national figure in Nigeria. On 27 February 2012, accused of stealing US$250 million from the Nigerian public purse, Ibori pleaded guilty to ten counts of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud at Southwark Crown Court, London.

Following the guilty plea entered by Ibori, the EFCC brought before an Appeal Court the 6-year-old ruling of a Federal High Court in Asaba which acquitted Ibori in 2009. The EFCC sought the court to set aside the ruling of the lower court on the grounds that the presiding judge, Justice Awokulehin, erred in law while delivering his judgment. A three-man panel of justices at the Benin Division of the Court of Appeal on May 15, 2014, ruled that the ex-governor has a case to answer. With this judgment, the coast is clear for Ibori to face further trial in Nigeria upon the completion of his jail term in London. On Tuesday, April 17, 2012, Ibori was sentenced to 13 years by Southwark Crown Court for his crimes like money laundering and fraud.

4. James Bala Ngilari

Bala James Ngilari is a Nigerian lawyer and former governor of Adamawa State, Nigeria from October 1, 2014, to May 29, 2015. He was the deputy Governor from 2012 – 2015 under Murtala Nyako He was succeeded by Bindo Jibrilla, the winner of the 2015 Adamawa gubernatorial election.

Ngilari was sentenced to five years in jail without the option of a fine by a Yola High court for corruption but was soon afterwards acquitted and freed by the Court of Appeals.

5. Orji Uzor Kalu

Orji Uzor Kalu (born 21 April 1960) is a Nigerian politician and businessman who is the senator representing Abia North Senatorial District. He served as governor of Abia State from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. Kalu is the chairman of SLOK Holding, the Daily Sun and New Telegraph in Nigeria.

Kalu was convicted by the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court on Thursday, 5 December 2019 and sentenced to 12 years in prison for N7.65 billion fraud. He was convicted for defrauding the government of Abia State where he was a governor for 8 years using his company, Slok Nigeria Limited.

More Articles on RNN

• Nigerian Politicians Who Married Foreigners
• Nigerian Politicians With Private Jets
• Famous Nigerian Oil Well Owners
• Top Oil Producing States In Nigeria