Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Gudu, Abuja, on Wednesday sentenced a former Governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, to 14-year imprisonment for criminal breach of trust by misappropriating the sum of N1.64bn preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The ex-governor, whose name goes with the appellation of a church title of “Reverend,” was convicted on a total of 27 out of the 41 counts preferred against him.
He 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, taking valuable thing without consideration and receiving gratification as a public officer.
The sentences are to run concurrently.
Justice Banjoko, who read the judgment for a period of about four hours from 9.51am to about 2.05pm on Wednesday, sentenced him to the maximum punishment of 14 years for criminal breach of trust, without an option of fine.
She sentenced him to the maximum sentence of two years for misappropriation, seven years for receiving gratification and five years for “obtaining valuable thing without consideration.”
The sentences were the maximum provided by the laws under which Nyame was charged in May 2007.
The judge, while dismissing his lawyer’s plea for mercy, described the act of the convict as likely to be the most “audacious” by any chief executive of a state.
