Mockery of anti-corruption efforts as Joshua Dariye, Nyame gets presidential pardon

Technocrat Media, Abuja

The President, Muhammadu Buhari has granted a pardon to former governor Joshua Dariye of Plateau state and former governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame.

On Thursday, President Buhari presided over the council of state meeting at the presidential villa in Abuja where the two former governors and 159 inmates were pardoned.

Dariye, 64, and Nyame, 66 were granted pardons on the grounds of age and ill-health.

Tajudeen Olanrewaju, a former military general and minister under the Sani Abacha regime were also among the top beneficiary of the presidential pardon.

All the junior officers jailed for the failed Gideon Orkar coup of 1990 were granted a pardon.

Also, a former lieutenant colonel and ex-aide of Oladipo Diya, Akiyode, was also granted a pardon.

In 2018, Nyame was convicted and jailed for 14 years, after a trial that lasted 11 years. He was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for diverting N1.64 billion in public funds during his tenure as governor of Taraba between 1999 and 2007.

His sentence was later reduced to 12 years by the supreme court in February 2020.

According to Channels TV, the Apex Court, affirmed all the decisions of the Appeal Court, except for the fines.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja had on November 16th, 2019 ordered Jolly Nyame to pay a fine of N495 million for alleged misappropriation of funds while he was governor from 1999 to 2007.

On the other hand, Dariye, a former senator who Plateau central district, was also sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2018 for N1.126 billion fraud.

According to TheCable, a court of appeal reduced Dariye’s jail term by four years –

a verdict that was affirmed by the supreme court.

However, the council rejected a request to pardon Francis Atuche, former managing director of Bank PHB, who was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for fraud.