The conviction of two prominent members of
the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Jolly Nyame and Joshua Dariye in
quick succession by a Federal Capital Territory High Court has put a lie to the
often repeated charge by critics and cynics that the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, is lukewarm in prosecuting chieftains of the ruling party
for corruption.
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| Weeping Joshua Dariye after he was jailed on Tuesday |
Nyame and Dariye, both former two-term
governors of Taraba and Plateau State respectively, were convicted and
sentenced to 14 years in prison on corruption charges.
Nyame, was convicted for criminal
misappropriation, diversion of public funds, and breach of public trust; and
Dariye, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds.
In the course of Nyame’s trial, the
prosecution called 14 witnesses and presented documentary evidence, which among
other things revealed that the N250 million was shared and never utilised for
the purpose for which it was approved. A total of N180 million was diverted to
the bank account of Salman Global Ventures Limited, which provided no services
for the state.
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| Rev. Jolly Nyame, ex-governor of Taraba jailed for 28 years for theft of public funds and other crimes |
On his part, Dariye diverted about N1.16
billion Ecological Fund meant for the state, to his personal use, including
transferring monies to Ebenezer Retnan Ventures (an unregistered company
managed by him) and Pinnacle Communications Limited.
In proving its case against Dariye, EFCC
called 10 witnesses, including Peter Clark, a detective constable with the UK
Metropolitan Police in London, who investigated Dariye in the UK for money
laundering offence.
Both trials had been ongoing for 11 years and
towards the end of the proceedings, the two convicts changed their political
camps, moving from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to the ruling APC.
Dariye who won election into the senate on
the platform of the PDP decamped to the ruling APC, at a critical phase of his
trial, when the prosecution had called all its vital witnesses and conviction
appeared imminent. Not surprisingly, this fuelled speculation that the gambit
was a calculated move to stave off imminent conviction.
But rather than slow proceedings, his trial
accelerated, forcing the defence to close its case, thus setting the stage for
the judgment of June12.
Also, Mohammed Dakingari, former accountant
general of Kebbi state and member of the APC was convicted of corruption and
sentenced to 70 years in prison.
Former governor of Abia state, Orji Uzor Kalu
is still being prosecuted in court by the EFCC despite crossing over to the
APC. Indeed, the Commission has closed its case in that matter after calling
several witnesses.
But rather than open his defence, Kalu
elected to file a ‘no case submission’. It will be up to the court to determine
whether the Commission has presented enough evidence to warrant him to enter
his defence.
From these cases, Nigerians can now
appreciate the fact that the EFCC is apolitical, blind to the political colours
and affiliations of crime suspects. It will be foolhardy for any politically
exposed person under prosecution to think that mere change of political
affiliation will guarantee immunity from prosecution.
Rather than entertain idle gossips who thrive
on haranguing the EFCC with charges of selectivity, these two recent
convictions offer Nigerians the opportunity to better appreciate the efforts
and sacrifices of the Commission, given the enormous resources in cash and
man-hours that went into proving the cases against the two former governors,
both of which went up to the Supreme Court on preliminary issues.
Particularly in the case of Dariye , one of
the witnesses, Peter Clark , a former detective of the Metropolitan Police, came
several times to give evidence only for proceedings to be frustrated with
forced adjournments by Dariye’s Lawyers.
His transport cost from the UK to Nigeria and
back was at the expense of Nigeria tax payers.
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