Jolly Nyame, a former
governor of Taraba State has been sentenced to 28 years in prison - 14 years
for criminal breach of trust, 2 years for criminal misappropriation, 7 years
for gratification and 5 years for obtaining by dishonesty.
Nyame, whose trial began
on July 13, 2007 before Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Federal Capital
Territory, FCT High Court, Guru, was charged with 41 counts by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for criminal misappropriation, diversion of
public funds, and breach of public trust.
In a ruling which lasted
more than 4 hours, Justice Banjoko found Nyame guilty of counts 1, 2, 6, 8,10,
12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, and 36 - charges bordering on criminal
breach of public trust; counts 3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25 -
charges bordering on misappropriation of public funds; counts 4 and 5 for
charges bordering on gratification. He was, however discharged of counts 22,
24, 26, 28, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41.
In the well considered
ruling, Justice Banjoko, noted that Nyame, a clergyman, as governor of Taraba,
breached the trust reposed in him by the indigenes of the state, when he
misappropriated N250 million which he approved purportedly for the purchase of
stationery for the state.
"From the totality
of facts before the court, Nyame approved N250 million for purchase of
stationery, but is found to have no intention to fulfill the purpose," the
trial judge held.
In the course of the
trial, the prosecution called 14 witnesses and presented documentary evidence,
which among other things revealed that the N250 million was shared and never
utilised for the purpose for which it was approved. A total of N180 million was
diverted to the bank account of Salman Global Ventures Limited, which provided
no services for the state.
Nyame had during the
trial denied knowledge of Salman Global Ventures Limited. But Justice Banjoko
noted that, "immediately the fund was released, his verbal instruction was
given, that N180 million be paid to Salman Global Ventures". The judge
further added that: "the audacity of the defendant to divert N180 million
from the N250 to the company, shows that he had more than a casual interest and
so can't hide behind a screen".
"There was no evidence to show that Salman
Global Ventures bidded for any contracts," the trial judge said, noting
that within five weeks, Salman Global Ventures received over N300 million from
the state coffers.
Nyame was also found
guilty of "misappropriation and misapplication of N165 million with
dishonest intention", and the misappropriation of N24,300,000 purportedly
approved for "purchase of grains".
Justice Banjoko held
that Nyame was "guilty of criminal breach of trust beyond reasonable
doubt", while also finding him guilty of the offence of gratification as
stated in count 4 of the charge. The EFCC had accused him of accepting a
gratification of N80 million from Abubakar Suleiman of Alusab International
(Nig) Ltd through Salman Global Ventures "as a reward for the award of
contract by the Taraba State Government to USAB International (Nig) Ltd",
an offence punishable under Section 115 of the Penal Code Act 1990.
In the allocution of the
defence, which was made by Olalekan Ojo, he urged the court to consider that
Nyame was a first-time offender, and a family man who had dependents to cater
for.
"He served the
people of Taraba State for eight years, and through him the lot of the people
in the state were bettered," he argued, and urged the court to "take
into consideration the selfless service of the convict, who has no criminal
record of any sort and is still less than 60".
In its counter-argument,
prosecution counsel, O.A. Atolagbe, urged the court to take into cognizance the
aggravating effect the action and inaction of Nyame had on the people of the
state.
Citing Section 416 2 (a)
(d) (e) and (f) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, he urged
the court to put into consideration the aggravating factors on the state. He
also pointed the attention of the court to the FCT Courts Practice Direction
2016, stressing that Nyame, played a leadership role in the commission of the
offence.
"He abused his
position of trust and caused severe harm to the society and economy of the state,
and so the effect of the offence must be put into consideration," he
argued, adding that, "claim of selfless service is far from the
truth".
After listening to the
arguments of both counsel, Justice Banjoko, gave her sentencing and noted that
despite claim of being a first-time offender, a family man, and his service,
"I am morally outraged with the facts of this case".
"There's no moral justification for the
level of outright theft, and the Court must therefore, impose a statement,
hopefully as a deterrent to other public officers, who may be similarly
inclined".
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