Former Plateau and Taraba governors Jolly Nyame and Joshua Dariye have been released from prison in the federal capital territory’s Kuje council area (FCT).
The change occurs approximately four months after the state pardoned the previous governors. 159 prisoners were pardoned at a council of state meeting in April that was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, including Dariye and Nyame.
Due to their advanced age and poor health, the two former governors who had each been sentenced to prison for fraud were pardoned.
Former governors of Taraba and Plateau States, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, have been freed from Kuje Prison months after the National Council of State pardoned them.
On April 14, 2022, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari pardoned Dariye and Nyame.
Prior to receiving presidential pardons from President Buhari, both former governors were serving prison sentences on corruption-related charges. This development drew a lot of criticism.
Dariye, who presided over Plateau from 1999 to 2007, was found guilty of felony breach of trust.
On Tuesday, June 12, 2018, the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja sentenced Dariye to 14 years in jail for criminal breach of trust and misappropriating N1.6 billion while he was the governor of Plateau state.
Following an appeal of the sentence, the Supreme Court ultimately decided that the offence should get a 10-year sentence.
A presidential pardon was given to Jolly Nyame and Joshua Dariye by the Nigerian federal government on April 14. Public and civil society organizations also criticized the decision.
Nyame was found guilty of the accusations against him on May 30, 2018, by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and given a 14-year prison sentence by Justice Adebukola Banjoko. He was requested to return the funds he misappropriated.
His conviction on 29 charges was upheld by the Abuja Court of Appeal in November 2018. Instead of the initial 14-year jail term, the appellate court reconsidered the sentences handed down by the trial court and sentenced him to 5 separate 12-year periods of imprisonment that were to run consecutively, along with a fine of N185 million.
The Supreme Court upheld the 12-year prison sentence on February 7, 2020, and overturned the astronomical fines that the courts had imposed on him because they were unjustified and unwarranted.
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