Barely three and a half months after jailed ex-Governors Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame were pardoned by the National Council of States, the duo was on Monday released from Kuje Prison, Abuja.
Persecondnews recalls that Dariye (Plateau) and Jolly Nyame (Taraba) were granted pardon by the Muhammadu Buhari administration on April 14, 2022 following the presentation of their cases to the Council which had sparked scathing public criticisms.
SERAP had sued Buhari for granting pardon to ex-govs Dariye, Nyame.
Both governors were convicted for fraud and corruption by the law courts.
An Abuja Federal High Court had on June 12, 2018 sentenced Dariye who served as governor from 1999 and 2007, to 14 years imprisonment for criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of N1.6 billion.
He appealed the judgment and the Supreme Court gave a final verdict of a 10-year sentence for the corruption charges.
Nyame was convicted on May 30, 2018, also by an Abuja High Court presided over by Justice Adebukola Banjoko for diverting N1.64 billion in May 2007 as charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment and asked to refund the monies he diverted.
The Appellate court however reviewed the sentences imposed by the trial court and sentenced him to five 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 N185 million.
On February 7, 2020, the Supreme Court affirmed the 12 year jail term and set aside the fines imposed on him by the courts on the grounds that they were outrageous and done without any prompting.
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