The Council of State led by the President, Muhammadu Buhari , has granted pardon to former Governors of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye; and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State.
The former Governors were both imprisoned for stealing N1.16bn and N1.6bn respectively in 2018.
There were granted pardon alongside 157 other convicts.
Confirming Dariye’s pardon, the Commissioner for Information, Dan Manjang, said that the ex-governor had been given a second chance.
He added “Every Plateau man is happy about it and we give kudos to the President for honouring us in this manner .We want to also thank whoever that has a hand in making it happen because everybody makes mistakes and you can make errors while in governance.
“As of today, he (Dariye ) has been given a reprieve as if nothing has happened and that is the spirit we have to imbibe as a people that when we make mistakes, we have to forgive because nobody is above error “
The Director of Press and Public Affairs, Government House, Dr Macham Makut, also disclosed that Governor Simon Lalong was at the council of State meeting where Dariye was granted state pardon.
The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Prof. Joseph Kunini, also hailed Nyame’s pardon in a statement on Thursday.
The Spokesman for Dariye, Mr. Christopher John, confirmed the pardon of both Dariye and Nyame.
John said the pardon of the ex-governors had nothing to do with the fact that they were members of the All Progressives Congress.
He claimed that both men were unfairly convicted, adding that their pardon was a form of vindication.
Dariye’s aide added, “We are so excited about this. We’ve been expecting for a long time and fortunately it has come at this time. We thank God and the government for granting him this pardon. The Nigerian system has made many court judgments unreliable. You can be roped into things you know nothing about.
“I believe that it is the will of God for him to be released. I don’t trust the Nigerian court system. Jolly Nyame was also released and we thank God. It has nothing to do with them being in the APC. It was even the PDP that charged them to court. The APC was not in power when this thing started. We know the genesis
Dariye and Nyame were convicted by Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in 2018.
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 Banjoko who has since been elevated to the Court of Appeal.
Dariye’s prison term was later reduced to 10 years by the Court of Appeal in Abuja while his conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court.
For Rev Nyame, who was governor of Taraba State from 1999 to 2007, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for stealing N1.6bn from the state’s treasury, a judgment which was also upheld by the Supreme Court.
Addressing journalists after the Council of State meeting in Abuja on Thursday, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said the council approved 159 out of 162 applications presented for consideration for the prerogative of mercy for convicts and inmates in correctional facilities nationwide.
According to Malami, the council rejected a proposal to grant pardon to one of the prisoners sentenced to 120 years for theft of over N25bn. The pardon, he said, was sought on health grounds.
