Former Governors of Plateau and Taraba states, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, respectively, have been released from Kuje Prison, where they were serving various jail terms for sundry offences as governors.
The DEFENDER recalls President Muhammadu Buhari, following approval of Council of State meeting he presided over in Abuja on Thursday April 14, 2022, granted state pardon to 159 beneficiaries including Dariye, Nyame, who were serving jail terms as convict on corruption grounds.
Mostly praised of the President’s action was the eventual pardon, among the new list, of former General officer Commanding, GOC, Third Mechanised Division Nigerian Army, Jos, and Minister of Communications during the military regime of General Sani Abacha, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (Rtd).
General Olanrewaju military aide, Lieutenant Colonel Oluwole Oyebanji Akiyode convicted for Diya’s coup of 1997 and all the junior officers jailed over the 1990 abortive Gideon Orkar coup also made the list were also pardoned.
Since April 14, nothing has been heard of the state of the presidential pardon as par the implementation as gazette, which is done between the Cabinet Office and Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, was yet to be released.
As at the time of filing this report, it was unclear whether the release from prison of the two former governors also meant that the gazette of the April state pardon had been published.
