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Tag: Jolly Nyame

  • I learnt alot in Kuje prison – Ex-Taraba gov, Nyame

    I learnt alot in Kuje prison – Ex-Taraba gov, Nyame

    Former Taraba State Governor, Rev. Jolly Tavoro Nyame, during a thanksgiving service which took place at the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN secretariat in Jalingo, revealed that he learnt alot during his incarceration at the Kuje prison.

    Rev. Nyame promised that if given the opportunity to become Governor again he would be a more capable leader, due to his experience in the correctional centre.

    “I learned a lot while in Kuje Prison and in the hospital. If given another opportunity to lead the people of Taraba State, I will do better because of the experience I have gained.” says Nyame

    He stressed the significance of faith and resilience, advising leaders to stand strong in the face of challenges.

    Nyame, who served only four years of a 14-year sentence, emphasised that his imprisonment was politically motivated.

    Nyame said he had alot of time to reflect and get in touch with his faith, he delivered a message of faith and hope emphasising on the importance of prayers and unity amongst Nigerians.

  • Nyame, Dariye, others released from prison

    Nyame, Dariye, others released from prison

    A former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye; a former Taraba State Governor, Jolly Nyame; and three others have been released from prison.

    They were released from Kuje Custodial Centre and three yet-to-be identified convicts were also released from the Suleja Custodial Centre on Monday.

    The Nigerian Correctional Service’s spokesperson in the Federal Capital Territory, Chukwuedo Humphrey, confirmed their release.

    “The release is sequel to the receipt of the letter of clemency from the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy Committee by the Controller General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa.

    “The Controller of Corrections, FCT Command, Ahmed Ahmed, acting on the directives of the Controller General, also released three other inmates who were granted pardon from the Suleja Custodial Centre.”

    However, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Umar Abubakar, said they would be freed as soon as all conditions are perfected.

    “Now, it is only these ones released from Kuje Custodial Centre that their process of release has been perfected. Once someone has been brought in, there is a process that must be followed to release them. However, we will keep releasing them as they meet the conditions,” he stated.

    The Council of State, led by the President Muhammadu Buhari had on April 14 approved the pardon of the 159 convicts.

    Nyame was serving a 12-year jail sentence for diverting N1.64bn during his tenure as governor of Taraba, while Dariye was serving 10 years’ imprisonment for N1.126bn fraud.

    Justifying the pardon, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, had said the two former governors had life-threatening illnesses.

  • Correctional Service releases Ex-Governors Dariye, Nyame

    Correctional Service releases Ex-Governors Dariye, Nyame

    The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command has released two former governors, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, as well as three others from costodial centres.

    The Public Relations Officer, FCT command, Mr Chukwuedo Humphrey disclosed this to newsmen on Monday in Abuja.

    Humphrey said that the letter of their release was sent to the command by the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy Committee on Monday.

    He said that the two former governors were pardoned on ill health and age grounds and were released immediately, but did not disclose the names of the three others

    “We have no right to hold them further as soon as we have the letter of clemency from the presidency.

    “If we do, it will be against their fundamental human rights.

    “They have left the facility today. We got the warrant of release today and have done the needful.

    “Dariye and Nyame were in Kuje custodial centre while the three others were in Suleja custodial centre,” he said.

    Newsmen reports that the ex-governors were among the 159 prisoners pardoned by the Council of State during a meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on April 14.

    Jolly Nyame, 66, ex-governor of Taraba from 1999 to 2007, was serving a 12-year jail term at the Kuje prison over misappropriation of funds while he was in office.

    Mr Joshua Dariye, 64, who governed Plateau between 1999 and 2007, was also jailed for corruption during his time as governor between 1999 and 2007.

  • Two months after state pardon, Dariye, Nyame, others still in prison

    Despite the state pardon granted to 159 convicts, including a former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye, and a former Taraba State Governor, Jolly Nyame, two months ago, the duo are yet to be released from the Nigerian Correctional Service (prison).

     

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) gathered that the duo and other convicts could not be released by correctional service until a correspondence from the Ministry of Justice stating so was received.

     

    The Council of State led by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had on April 14 approved the pardon of the convicts, a decision which generated outcries.

     

    Nyame is serving a 12-year jail sentence for diverting N1.64 billion during his tenure as governor of Taraba, while Dariye is serving 10 years’ imprisonment for N1.126 billion fraud.

    Dariye

     

    But while justifying the clemency, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the president, Garba Shehu, had said it would have been insensitive for the President not to pardon the duo, saying that they had life-threatening illnesses.

     

    When contacted about why the two former governors were still in their custody, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service, Abubakar Umar, explained that the NCS was not responsible for the delay.

     

    Umar said, “Why they have not been released is because we are still waiting for correspondence from the Ministry of Justice. The moment we get that, we will effect their release. It is a presidential pardon, no doubt, but there must be a document to back their release. They can’t be released on pronouncement alone.”

     

    Meanwhile, there is palpable anger in the Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State over the non-release of Dariye from the correctional centre.

     

    Some kinsmens of Dariye, who served as a governor between 1999 and 2007 and hails from Mushere community in the Bokkos LGA, condemned how the Federal Government was handling his matter, describing his continued detention as strange.

  • Court orders payment of pension arrears to ex-gov Nyame, others

    The National Industrial Court, on Tuesday ordered Taraba State Government, to immediately pay former Gov. Jolly Nyame and three others, arrears of their pensions.

    The other judgment creditors in the suit are Uba Ahmadu, Abubakar Armayau and Bilkisu Danboyi

    The court, in addition, awarded the sum of N500,000 against the state government.

    Justice Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae, while delivering judgment, held that the judgment debtors did not contest owing the judgment creditors, having entered and signed an undertaking to pay their pension arrears.

    The judge said that the undertaking was signed in order to stop the enforcement of the judgment, when the movable property of the judgment debtors were taken by court officials.

    She further held that the judgment debtors submitted same argument and authorities as cited by the garnishee debtor.

    The judge therefore stated that there was no merit in their submissions.

    Obaseki-Osaghae had earlier in the judgment, addressed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) preliminary objection.

    According to the court, the objection raised by the apex bank that the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the suit, does not have merit.

    CBN in its objection had argued that as an agency of the Federal Government, only a High Court could carry out a garnishee proceeding against it, as provided by Section 251, 1(d) of the 1999 Constitution, and Section 84 of the Sheriff & Civil Process Act, which rule 2 & 3 of the Judgment Enforcement Rule, is attached to.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that a Garnishee proceeding is a judicial process of execution, or enforcement of monetary judgment, by the seizure or attachment of debts due or accruing to the judgment debtor, which form part of his property available in execution.

    The court in response, held that the court was not enforcing a Federal High Court judgment, but rather a judgment that was delivered by the same court.

    The court equally held that it had the power to enforce monetary judgment through a garnishee proceeding.

    The judge also stated that the NICN had the same ranking as any High Court, and its judgment could be enforced in a garnishee proceeding.

    In addressing the issue of CBN being a government agency and public officer that needed the approval of the Attorney-General before a garnishee proceeding could be taken against it, the court stated that CBN was not a public officer in the context of Section 84 of Sheriff & Civil Process Act.

    The court in conclusion held that the judgment creditors in their counter-affidavit, submitted that the Judgment debtor had its funds with the CBN.

    The court therefore pronounced the order of garnishee nisi, made Dec. 2, 2021, absolute, as CBN had not shown cause why it should not be made so.

    The judgment creditors had filed the suit against the judgment debtor, the Taraba State Government and CBN, the garnishee debtor, through a garnishee proceeding.

    The judgment debtor in response filed an application filed on Jan. 24, seeking for the order of the court to set aside the order nisi, granted in favour of the judgment creditors on Dec. 2, 2021.

    An Order Nisi means an order that will ripen or take effect at some set date in the future, unless the order is rescinded by a court before that date.

    CBN on its part, had objected to the garnishee proceeding by stating that the court did not have jurisdiction to entertain the proceeding.

    The garnishee proceeding emanated from a judgment delivered by the same court on July 12, 2019.

    In the judgment, the court had ordered the payment of the sum of N151.1 million, being the unpaid pension arrears of the judgment creditors.

    The judgment, which was delivered by Justice Sanusi Kado, was for unpaid pension from May, 2013 to Oct. 2015.

    The court, in the said judgment, had ordered 10 equal instalment payment, commencing from July 2019, on a monthly basis until the final liquidation of the total sum.

    The judgment creditors were paid the sum of N16.3 million as first instalment, but were never paid again until the expiration of the instalments plan in Nov. 2021.

    The judgment creditors, who were former employees of the judgment debtor upon retirement, were paid the sum of N45 million out of their total pension arrears of N196 million.

    NAN

  • Extend presidential pardon to petty thieves – Falana tells FG

    Extend presidential pardon to petty thieves – Falana tells FG

    Rights activist, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) on Friday in Ikeja urged the Federal Government to extend Thursday’s presidential pardon granted some top Nigerians, to people serving terms for petty offences.

    Falana made the call at the 1st anniversary of late Afenifere’s spokesman, Yinka Odumakin’s Lecture and Book Presentation.

    He said doing so for convicts without selectivity, and irrespective of class, would give a reflection of fairness and equality for all before the law.

    Recall that the Council of State granted presidential pardon to 159 convicts on Thursday.

    Among them were former governor of Plateau, Sen. Joshua Dariye and ex-Gov. Jolly Nyame of Taraba, who were both jailed for allegedly stealing N1.16 billion and N1.6 billion respectively.

    Falana also advised that there should no discrimination on the basis of belonging to the ruling class.

    “All petty thieves in our prisons should be released. Under Section 17 of the 1999 Constitution, there shall be equality and equal rights for all citizens.

    “Section 42 of the Constitution says there shall be no discrimination on the basis of class and gender, so you cannot take out a few people on the basis that they belong to a category or section of the society.

    “I can assure you that if the government did not release others, I am going to call on lawyers whose clients are left in custody to come to court and challenge the discriminatory treatment on their clients.

    “Just two weeks ago, a Nigerian was jailed for stealing N1,000 in Abuja; the accused pleaded with the judge that he had no food but the judge jailed him for six months.

    “When we are talking of justice and fair play, if you want to pardon some set of people, then you must also extend presidential pardon to petty thieves in the prisons.

    “This is because if the big thieves are being asked to go, then they must also extend the facility to other Nigerians,’’ the rights crusader said.

    Speaking on the passing of late Odumakin after a year, Falana described his loss as a monumental tragedy.

    “Yinka remained a symbol of justice and we are gathered to celebrate his legacy. He was a man of honour, hope and consistency; a man who gave hope to the masses,’’ he added.

    In his remarks, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun, (APC- Central Senatorial), said the deceased was a friend who built bridges across ethnic and religious groups.

    “His legacy will still remain and the memory of his demise still lingers. My heart goes to his widow, Joe for staying strong after his demise,’’ the former Ogun governor said.

    Similarly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, the General Overseer of Citadel Global Community Church and a presidential hopeful, said late Odumakin was a fearless person who did not labour in vain, adding that his memory would linger for ever.

    Also, Dr Akinwunmi Adeshina, President, African Development Bank, said Odumakin was a respected rights activist and a democrat.

    Leader of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Chief Gani Adams, thanked Odumakin’s widow for erecting a legacy for the deceased.

    He noted that the Foundation would give room for generations to learn about what the deceased fought about.

    In her remarks, the widow, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, said her husband devoted to true federalism.

    She described her deceased husband as an encyclopaedia of positive activism.

    Late Odumakin, died in April 2, 2021, after battling with respiratory problems, occasioned by COVID-19 complications.

    Among the dignitaries at the event were Osun deputy governor, Mr Benedict Alabi, and the Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr Gbenga Omotosho.

  • Ex-Govs Dariye, Nyame jailed for corruption, 157 others get state pardon

    Ex-Govs Dariye, Nyame jailed for corruption, 157 others get state pardon

    The National Council of State has granted state pardon to former Governors Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame of Plateau and Taraba States respectively, who are serving terms in jail for corruption.

    Ex-Governors Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, convicted for corruption, were pardoned on health and age grounds when they still have several years to complete their jail terms.

    The governors were among 159 prisoners pardoned by the Council at a meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja on Thursday.

    Among the beneficiaries are a former military general and minister under the Sani Abacha regime, Tajudeen Olanrewaju, an army lieutenant colonel, Akiyode, who was an aide of former deputy to General Abacha, Oladipo Diya; and all the junior officers jailed over the 1990 abortive Gideon Orkar coup.

    The full list of those pardoned is not immediately available.

    According to a presidency source, the two former governors were pardoned on health and age grounds.

    Mr Nyame, 66, governor of Taraba State from 1999 to 2007, was serving a 12-year jail term at the Kuje prison for misappropriation of funds while he was in office. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction in February 2020.

    Mr Dariye, 64, who governed Plateau between 1999 and 2007, was jailed for stealing N2 billion of public funds during his time as Plateau State governor 1999 and 2007.

    The former governor, elected as senator representing Plateau Central in the Senate in 2015, was sentenced in June 2018 but still completed his tenure in jail in June 2019.

    In 2021, he led a partly successful appeal at the Supreme Court with a five-man panel of the court headed by Mary Odili, quashing his conviction in respect of criminal misappropriation in a unanimous decision.

    The offences he was discharged of only attracted two years’ imprisonment and, so had no impact on his overall number of years of imprisonment. The apex upheld the ex-governor’s conviction in respect of criminal breach of trust, which attracted a 10-year jail term.

    Adebukola Banjoko of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, had on June 12, 2018, convicted Mr Dariye and originally sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment on charges of criminal breach of trust and two years jail term for criminal misappropriation.

    But following his appeal against the judgment, the Court of Appeal in Abuja on November 16, 2018, commuted the 14 years jail term to 10.

    While the Court of Appeal affirmed his conviction, it held that Section 416 (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, prohibited the imposition of a maximum sentence on a first offender, such as the convict.

    The former governor had appealed to the Supreme Court.

    Ejembi Emo, a member of the apex court’s panel noted that Mr Dariye’s appeal “succeeded in part” after quashing his conviction in respect of charges of criminal misappropriation.

    The meeting of the Council of State was attended by former presidents and military heads of state, except former President Olusegun Obasanjo who is in the United States on medical vacation.

    The Nigerian Council of State is an organ of the Nigerian Government as stipulated by Third Schedule Part 1B of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    The membership of the Council includes the President, who is Chairman; the Vice-President, who is Deputy Chairman; all former Presidents of the Federation and all former Heads of the Government of the Federation; all former Chief Justices of Nigeria; the President of the Senate; the Speaker of the House of Representatives; all the Governors of the states of the Federation; and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

    The Council has the power to:

    (a) advise the President in the exercise of his powers concerning the:-

    (i) national population census and compilation, publication and keeping of records and other information concerning the same;

    (ii) prerogative of mercy;

    (iii) award of national honours;

    (iv) the Independent National Electoral Commission (including the appointment of members of that Commission);

    (v) the National Judicial Council (including the appointment of the members, other than ex-officio members of that Council); and

    (vi) the National Population Commission (including the appointment of members of that Commission); and

    (b) advise the President whenever requested to do so on the maintenance of public order within the Federation or any part thereof and on such other matters as the President may direct.

  • Court orders payment of N151m pension arrears to Nyame, 3 others

    The National Industrial Court has ordered the payment of the sum of N151.1 million being the unpaid pension arrears of ex-governor of Taraba, Rev. Jolly Nyame and three others from May, 2013 to Oct.2015.
    The other claimants in the suit were Uba Ahmadu, Abubakar Armayau and Bilkisu Danboyi.
    The judge, Justice Sanusi Kado in a ruling on an application brought by the claimants counsel, Mr Uchenna Okeke entered a summary judgment in favour of the claimants
    Okeke’s application which was brought in pursuant to Order 34, Rule 4 of the NICN Civil Procedure Rule, 2017, sought for an order of court to enter summary judgment against the defendant, the Taraba State government, compelling the defendant to pay the balance of his clients pension arrears within four months.
    The application was however opposed by the defence counsel, Mr Emmanuel Anderifun in a counter-affidavit.
    Kado in the ruling granted the summary judgment.
    He said the sole issue for determination was the number of times the defendant will make the payment in instalments.
    He further stated that the defendant had always admitted owing the claimants the said amount.
    The judge added that facts admitted needed not to be proven by evidence or further proof.
    Kado said the bone of contention was the number of time the payment would be made.
    He said the claimants demanded for their payment in four instalment payment while the defendant proposed 18 installments.
    The judge ruled thus” the decision of the court is for 10 equal instalments payment commencing from July. 2019 on a monthly basis until the final liquidation of the total sum.
    “Failure to abide by the decision of the court will attract 10 per cent interest rate for the defendant.
    ” Summary judgment is hereby entered accordingly” he concluded.
    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the claimants who were former employees of the defendant upon retirement were paid the sum of N45 million out of their total pension arrears of N196 million.
    They therefore, approached the court to seek redress after every efforts to get the balance of their pension arrears failed.
    The Attorney-General of Taraba was a co-defendant in the suit.
    NAN reports that on May 31, 2018, Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Gudu, Abuja, sentenced Nyame, to 14 years’ imprisonment for his acts of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of the sum of N1.64bn belonging to the state.
    The judgment marked the end of about 11 years’ trial which would be the first full-blown criminal proceedings to be conducted in a Nigerian court and ended in a guilty verdict sending a former governor to jail for a period as long as 14 years for corruption.
    Nyame, was convicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment with the highest being 14 years for offences bordering on criminal breach of trust, criminal misappropriation, and taking valuable thing without consideration and receiving gratification as a public officer.
    The judge sentenced him to the maximum punishment of 14 years for criminal breach of trust without an option of fine, two years for criminal misappropriation; seven years for receiving gratification and five years for “obtaining valuable thing without consideration.”
    The sentences were the maximum provided by the law under which the convict was charged in May 2007.

  • Dariye, Nyame currently serving jailterms at Kuje – EFCC

    The duo of Jolly Nyame, a former Governor of Taraba State and Joshua Dariye, a serving Senator and a former Governor of Plateau state are currently serving jailterms at Kuje Prison.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), having secured a total of 312 convictions between January and December 24, 2018, made this known on Thursday.

    The record of convictions is undoubtedly a significant improvement from the 189 convictions recorded in 2017, according to the commission.

    Also, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Joseph Nwobike, who has been stripped of the highly revered legal title, was also convicted for perverting the course of justice in the year.

    Dariye and Nyame, who were sentenced to 14 years in prison had approached the Court of Appeal to challenge the “guilty” verdict handed down on them by a Federal Capital Territory High Court, Gudu presided over by Justice Adebukola Banjoko.

    However, while upholding their convictions, the Appellate Court commuted Dariye’s jailterm to 10 years, and that of Nyame to 12 years with a fine of N495 million.

    “With the convictions, the EFCC, led by Ibrahim Magu as the acting Chairman, has remained consistent in its concerted efforts aimed at ensuring that the negative narrative of pervasive corruption in the system is changed for the better, and the perception that some persons are above the Law, is altered.

    “The record of convictions cuts across the various offices of the EFCC with Lagos securing 85 convictions, Abuja with 53, followed by Kano with 36.

    “Port Harcourt secured 33 convictions, Gombe recorded 28; Benin had 27; Enugu, 15; Maiduguri, 11; Ibadan, 10; Uyo, 8, and Kaduna, 6,” the commission said.

     

  • Court fixes Feb 14 for hearing on Nyame’s N1.64bn fraud

    A former governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT High Court, Gudu on a 41-count charge of criminal misappropriation of N1.64bn state funds will know his fate on February 14, 2017.

    The court will on that day decide whether he has a case to answer or not.

    The prosecution had on November 22, 2016 closed its case against Nyame after presenting 14 witnesses.

    The trial, however, witnessed a twist on the same day, as the defence told the court that it intended to file a “no case” submission, as it believed that there was no prima facie case established against Nyame.

    At the resumed sitting yesterday, both the prosecution and the defence adopted their written addresses, and gave oral arguments.

    Charles Edosomwan, SAN, counsel for Nyame, alluded to the fact that “crucial elements are missing in this case”, and urged the court to “hold that the testimony of prosecution witnesses have been so damaged and can’t be relied on”.

    He further argued that there was no direct link between Nyame, and a house allegedly procured by him using the diverted state funds, noting that “nobody tendered registered documents linking him to it”.

    According to him, the trial was “an unnecessary waste of time through which an ordeal was inflicted on Nyame, just because he was a former governor”.

    Prosecuting counsel, Adebisi Adeniyi, however, countered Edosomwan’s submission, noting that “a prima facie case had indeed been established against Nyame after the prosecution called 14 witnesses who testified to how they assisted him to divert state funds”.

    “In the course of this trial, the defendant did not at any time deny that he received some of the money in question, and in fact, he has even said that he is ready to return the money,” Adeniyi said.

    He reminded the court that some of the witnesses had confessed in court admitting their several roles during which funds were withdrawn from the state treasury for Nyame’s use.

    He said: “Those who took part in purchase of stationery have come to court and explained their roles through which the money was instead, transferred to bank account belonging to close confidante of the defendant, and all these were not contended.”

    Citing Exhibit Z6, Adeniyi reminded the court that another witness testified to how money purportedly earmarked for the purchase of grains, were never utilized for what it was pencilled for, but instead, “the money was brought to the defendant”.

    He further argued that: “All your lordship will do is to see whether there’s ground upon which your lordship can ask the defendant to enter his defence, not that he is guilty or not, or whether evidence is good enough to convict him, but to say he should defend himself.”

    After listening to the arguments, Justice Banjoko, urged both parties to submit the authorities cited in their submissions, adding that “I want to go through all the evidence, and will give my ruling on February 14, 2017.”