The Court of
Appeal in Abuja has ordered the former Taraba State Governor, Jolly Nyame, to
pay a fine of N495 million for alleged misappropriation of funds while he was
governor of Taraba State from 1999 to 2007.
The court on
Thursday, however, reduced the 14-year jail term, earlier given to Mr Nyame by
a High Court in Abuja to 12 years.
The appeal
court, however, said the law compels the court to add a fine for each of the
various convictions.
During an
initial judgement of the lower court in April, the court jailed Mr Nyame 14
years for various crimes whose penalties were to run concurrently.
But the
appellate court in a fresh ruling on Friday said Mr Nyame ought to have been
given a capital punishment, but for the constitutional constraint on the court
to stick to the provisions of the law.
THE
SENTENCING
In May, when
Justice Adebukola Banjoko first sentenced Mr Nyame to jail, she summarised how
she came about the judgement.
In her
address, the judge identified various confessions of fraudulent transactions
and said the evidences against the defendant were overwhelming. According to
the judge, even the defence witnesses alluded to the crimes contained in the
charge against the defendant. She likened the conduct of the prescribed
offences to the story of Alibaba and the forty thieves.
Citing a
memo which formed the basis of the fraudulent transactions, Mrs. Banjoko
questioned the motive behind Mr Nyame’s ‘ratification’ of the said memo,
despite the former governor’s claim that he knew nothing about the fraudulent
transaction.
“From the
evidence alluded in court, transactions by the treasury of the Taraba State
government begin with a memo. Now a memo has a root course that is traceable to
a decision,” said the judge who added that where the said memo becomes a proven
source of questionable transactions, it would only be natural to trace the said
memo to its source.
The judge
also questioned the failure of Mr Nyame to investigate the illicit flow of
funds under his watch adding that Mr Nyame confirmed in court that he never conducted
any such investigation.
“It is only
under cross examination that the defendant said he did not carry out the
investigation, because the EFCC was already carrying out a similar
investigation.”
The judge
further noted confessions by witnesses, including the managing director of
Saman Global that the company was not involved in the delivery of stationaries.
“If Saman
Global has no history of supplying stationaries into Taraba State, then their
injection into the flow must have been questionable.
Mrs. Banjoko
narrated the testimonies of Mr Nyame’s commissioner of finance, Abubakar Tutari
who spearheaded the many cases of administrative breaches in the transfer of
the funds to Saman global.
The judge
said although the defendant denies knowledge of the transactions, it is either
that he; (Nyame) or Mr Tutari has lied to the court.
“It is a
question of Alhaji Tutari’s words against that of the defendant. So the golden
question is who lying among the two of them. Because somebody is lying.” said
the judge.
“It is
imperative to bring to the fore, the background of Ababakar Tutari. According
the defendant, he was serving a senator of the federal republic of Nigeria.
Alhaji Tutari said he had known the defendant since 1992 when he was speaker of
the Taraba state house of assembly.
“Their
relationship sprang from that time till when he was governor, in 1999. During
this period, he served as commissioner in four ministries, namely; finance
rural development water resources sport and youth development. So they were
close,” Mrs. Bankole said.
Mrs Banjoko
found the defendant guilty of 27 of the counts, bothering on allegations of
criminal breach of trust, receiving of gratification, obtaining without due
consideration and misappropriation of public funds.
Before
reading the verdict, the defence counsel prayed the court to consider the fact
that the convict had never being convicted of such offences and that he was a
family man who had served his state four at least eight years.
The
prosecution counsel, Oluwaleke Atolagbe however urged the court to consider the
effects of the charges on the people of Taraba and the need to set a precedence
that would prevent future occurrences.
Mrs. Banjoko
while stating her ruling expressed disappointment at the conduct of the
accused.
“But I must
say that I am morally outraged by the facts of this case. The people of Traba
State had elected the defendant, a clergy man, on three different occasions.
“There
expectations must have been very high. How would he begin to explain to the
people of Taraba State his actions? How would he explain such a colossal loss
to the people?” she queried.
The judge
said Mr Nyama continued the commission of the allegations, even after finding
out that the commission was investigating his offences.
She therefore
sentenced the defendants to various terms based on the four category of
offences, to a maximum of 14 years in jail, without an option of fine.
The judge
ordered the immediate return of forfeited funds from the treasury of the EFCC
to that of Taraba State.
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