The Former Governors of Plateau and Taraba states, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame have been released from Kuje Prison where they were serving various jail terms for sundry offences as governors.
Dariye, who was governor from 1999 to 2007, was jailed for laundering public funds to the tune of N1.162bn and was sentenced to 14 years in prison by Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in 2018 who has now been elevated to the appeal court.
Nyame who was governor of Taraba State from 1999 to 2007, was also sentenced to 12 years in prison for stealing N1.6bn. The case went up to the apex court which affirmed his conviction.
However, his prison term was later reduced to 10 years by the appellate court in Abuja while his conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court.
However the Council of State, led by President Muhammadu Buhari had on April 14 approved the pardon of 159 convicts including Dariye and Nyame who were separately convicted for stealing.
Confirming their release the Spokesman of the Federal Capital Territory FCT Command of the Nigeria Prisons Service, Humphrey Chukwuedo when asked why they were not released since April said “There was a process of documentation when they came. We received certain written instructions to that effect. So, we could not just release them without also receiving written instructions to the effect. It is a procedure”, he stated.