A former governor of Taraba state has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after he was convicted of misappropriating state funds.
Jolly Nyame was state governor for Taraba for 2 terms from 1999 to 2007 and was sent to prison today by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory without an option of fine.
Mr Nyame was convicted after being found to be culpable for 27 out of 41 counts of alleged diversion of public funds against him while in office.
The governor was alleged to have diverted N1.64 billion which were public funds to his own use by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The presiding judge, Adebukola Banjoko, had initially sentenced Nyame to four different terms in prison, after finding him guilty of receiving gratification, obtaining public funds without due consideration, criminal breach of trust and gratification.
The prison terms for the crimes he was found guilty of are two, five, seven and 14 years respectively.
But since the jail terms are to run concurrently, this means that Nyame will only spend 14 years in jail.
The EFCC’s case against Nyame was overwhelming and even though the ex-governor claimed that he was innocent, the court still found him guilty of breaching public trust