Ex-Governors Nyame, Dariye Released From Prison

The former governor of Plateau State Senator Joshua Dariye and an ex-governor of Taraba State Jolly Nyame have been released by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS).

Both former governors were serving jail terms for corruption allegations until they were granted a presidential pardon by President Muhammadu Buhari a few months ago.

The Council of State had approved the pardon alongside 157 other convicts in April this year.

The former governors were convicted by Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Federal High Court, Abuja in 2018.

Dariye was convicted of stealing N1.16 billion while serving as Plateau governor from 1999 to 2007 and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. But his term was eventually reduced to 10 years by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, while his conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court.

Nyame, 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 12 years in prison. He was asked to refund the monies he diverted.

Nyame, who was Taraba governor from 1999 to 2007, was convicted of stealing N1.6 billion from the state’s treasury.

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 N185 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.