ABUJA — The Council of State led by President Muhammadu Buhari has granted pardon to 159 convicts. Among the pardoned are former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, former Governor of Taraba State. The due were jailed for stealing N1.16bn and N1.5bn respectively.
Plateau State Commissioner for Information, Dan Manjang, confirmed Dariye’s pardon to journalists, adding that the ex-Governor had been given a second chance.
According to him, “Every Plateau man is happy about it and we give kudos to the President for honouring us in this manner. We want to also thank whoever that has a hand in making it happen because everybody makes mistakes and you can make errors while in governance.
“As of today, he (Dariye ) has been given a reprieve as if nothing has happened and that is the spirit we have to imbibe as a people that when we make mistakes, we have to forgive because nobody is above error “
The Director of Press and Public Affairs, Government House, Dr Macham Makut, also confirmed that Governor Simon Lalong was at the council of State meeting where Dariye was granted state pardon.
The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Prof. Joseph Kunini, also hailed Nyame’s pardon in a statement on Thursday. It was also gathered that there was jubilation in some parts of the state following the news.
The Spokesman for Dariye, Mr. Christopher John, confirmed the pardon of both Dariye and Nyame to one of our correspondents.
John said the pardon of the ex-governors had nothing to do with the fact that they were members of the All Progressives Congress.
He claimed that both men were unfairly convicted, adding that their pardon was a form of vindication.
Dariye’s aide added, “We are so excited about this. We’ve been expecting for a long time and fortunately it has come at this time. We thank God and the government for granting him this pardon. The Nigerian system has made many court judgments unreliable. You can be roped into things you know nothing about.
“I believe that it is the will of God for him to be released. I don’t trust the Nigerian court system. Jolly Nyame was also released and we thank God. It has nothing to do with them being in the APC. It was even the PDP that charged them to court. The APC was not in power when this thing started. We know the genesis
