The Federal Capital Territory High Court has sentenced a former governor of Taraba state, Jolly Nyame, to 14 years in prison without an option of fine.
Nyame was charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 41-count of allegedly diverting N1.64billion during his eight-year governorship tenure between 1999 and 2007.
Among other allegations, witnesses provided by EFCC said Nyame approved the diversion of various funds to the tune of N345 million to a company, Saman global, within five weeks in 2005.
Although Nyame denied knowing the company, the court found him guilty of breaching public trust after noting that he confirmed approving the memo ordering a transfer of the funds to the said company.
The trial had largely been stalled by the successive appeals by Nyame challenging the validity of the charges instituted against him by EFCC in July 2007.
But in a judgement today, Adebukola Bankole, the presiding judge, held that Nyame was guilty of 27 of the 41 charges against him.
Specifically, Nyame was sentenced to two, five, seven and 14 years in jail respectively after being convicted for four charges that include receiving gratification, obtaining public funds without due consideration, and criminal breach of trust.
However, the terms are to run concurrently, meaning Nyame will serve 14 years in jail unless a higher court decides otherwise.
___
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2018 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
