Embattled former Governors of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State have all been released from Kuje Prison months after they were pardoned by the National Council of State.
Dariye and Nyame had been granted pardons by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government on 14th of April, 2022.
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Both former governors were serving jail term for corruption allegations until they were granted pardon by President Buhari, a development that received a lot of negative reactions.
Dariye, who governed Plateau between 1999 and 2007 was convicted for criminal breach of trust.
The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Gudu, Abuja, had on Tuesday 12th June, 2018 sentenced Dariye to 14 years’ imprisonment on the charges of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N1.6 billion 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 offence committed.
On April 14, the federal government of Nigeria granted Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame a presidential pardon. The action was criticised by civil society organisations and the general public.
For Nyame, he was convicted on May 30, 2018, 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 term of imprisonment which were to run concurrently instead of the initial 14 year Jail term and ordered him to pay a fine of ₦185 million.
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 on the grounds that they were outrageous and done without any prompting.