By Ejileye Lanre
Former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye, and a former Taraba State Governor, Jolly Nyame, and two others have been released.
The Council of State, led by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had on April 14 approved the pardon of the convicts, a decision.
Upon leaving office in 2007, Nyame was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for fraud of 1.64 billion nairas in a forty-one count charge of Fraud,
In 2007, Nyame admitted to misappropriating 180 million naira out of 250 million naira meant for stationaries in Taraba state and offered to return the same.
On May 30, 2018, Nyame was convicted by the High court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, under the ruling of Justice Adebukola Banjoko for the charges against him and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He was asked to refund the monies he diverted
In November 2018, The Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed his conviction on 29 counts. The Appellate court however reviewed the sentences imposed by the trial court and sentenced him to 5 separate 12-year terms of imprisonment which was to run concurrently instead of the initial 14-year Jail term and ordered him to pay a fine of 185 million nairas.
On 7 February 2020, the Supreme Court affirmed the 12-year jail term Judgment and set aside the fines imposed on him by the courts because they were outrageous and done without any prompting which generated outcries.
On the same line, The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Gudu, Abuja, on Tuesday 12th June 2018 sentenced Joshua Dariye to 14 years imprisonment on the charges of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of funds (1.6 billion nairas) while he was the Governor of Plateau state. The sentence was then appealed and eventually, the Supreme Court gave a final verdict of a 10 years sentence for the offense committed.
