Nigeria’s Anti-Graft Agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has unfolded how petition by a widow exposed a former Governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame and eventually sent him to jail.
The former Governor was jailed on May 30, 2018 by Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Court after trial that lasted 11years.
He bagged 14 years for criminal breach of trust, two for criminal misappropriation, seven for gratification, and five for obtaining by dishonesty – all to run concurrently.
According to the EFCC, “Call it the serendipity of stumbling across a goldmine and you will not be far from the truth. Nyame was in fact, never in the purview of the EFCC, and no one at any time wrote a petition against him. There was no “witch-hunt”.
“Nyame’s financial crime was unravelled by the EFCC while investigating a petition written by a widow, Hauwa Kulu Usman, against Suleiman Abubakar, younger brother to her late husband, Usman Abubakar, Managing Director of Alusab International Limited. She had taken her cry to the EFCC to help recover money from Suleiman being payment to the company.
The Taraba State government had issued a cheque of N135,794,607 in favour of the company, as contract payment for rehabilitation of the Ibi Wukari Water Project. But Suleiman collected the cheque and lodged it in a different account domiciled in Zenith Bank Plc, in Jalingo. Hauwa sought the help of the EFCC to recover the money, accusing Suleiman who took over the company of “squandering” it.
He was subsequently invited by the EFCC for questioning; then and there, the bubble burst. During interrogation, Suleiman admitted collecting the cheque, and though argued that he did not squander the money as alleged in the petition, confirmed that it was for the said project, which was ongoing before the death his brother. He revealed that through Abubakar Tutare, then Commissioner of Finance in the state, the company applied for additional works, which was granted by the state government.
According to him, the estimation for the additional works was N35 million, but Tutare instructed him to add N100 million to the estimation. Subsequently, a cheque of N135 million was issued to Suleiman, but along with it, was a complimentary card, with an account number written at the back. Tutare instructed him to pay the N100 million into the account. Suleiman had asked Tutare about VAT payment, to which Tutare told him to deduct 10 per cent as tax and to credit the account at the back of the card belonging to Nyame with N80 million, and bring N10 million to him.
Suleiman duly paid the cheque into Alusab’s account and acted on the N80 million as instructed, as per the complimentary card. He also gave N10 million to Tutare at his residence through his house aide, Husseini Ali.
The confession of Suleiman sparked an extensive investigation, which saw the EFCC spreading its dragnet across the State Government House, the Ministry of Finance, and several companies. Tutare, himself was invited for questioning and he confirmed the testimony of Suleiman, but stressed that he acted on the instruction of Nyame, and that the N80 million was paid into the account of Salmon Global Ventures Nigeria Ltd.
The EFCC afterwards unravelled a slew of fraudulent financial activities perpetrated in the ministry of finance, with Nyame being the chief actor, including ordering Dennis Nev, then Permanent Secretary, Government House, to raise N101 million for a one-day Presidential Visit in 2005.”
Nyame’s volte-face
Nyame, who also took to the dock to defend himself, made a blanket denial of the charges of receiving money in any form, arguing that he had no business dealings with Salmon Global Ventures, and did not direct Tutare to facilitate payment of any monies into any company’s account. He also denied the physical receipt of any cash with respect to the presidential visit, and argued that there was a dire need for grains by “Tarabans” that prompted his government to pursue the release of funds for purchase of grains through the Liaison Office. According to him, the only sums of money he received were for allowances, dispensation, entitlements and security funds. Nyame was one of four witnesses that testified in his defence.
Justice Banjoko, however, saw through what was apparently a volte-face on his part, despite the testimonies of 14 witnesses presented by the EFCC through its team of prosecutors that included Rotimi Jacobs, SAN; O.A. Atolagbe and Henry Ejiga.
Nyame bites the dust:
The judge in convicting Nyame, noted that the fraud perpetrated under his watch was “best illustrated in the tale, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”. Describing his misappropriation of state funds as “a catalogue of errors and shame”, the trial judge held that, “it is either Reverend Jolly Nyame entered the Office without a corrupt mind or he was corrupted ab initio”.
The trial judge found Nyame guilty of counts one, two, six, eight, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, and 36 – charges bordering on criminal breach of trust; counts three, seven, nine, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25 – charges bordering on criminal misappropriation; counts four and five – charges bordering on gratification and accepting
a valuable thing without consideration. He was not given an option of fine, and was discharged of counts 22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41.
After listening to the arguments of both counsel, Justice Banjoko, gave her sentencing and noted that despite claim of being a first-time offender, a family man, and his service, “I am morally outraged with the facts of this case.
“There’s no moral justification for the level of outright theft, and the Court must therefore, impose a sentence that would, hopefully serve as a deterrent to such other public officers, who may be similarly inclined to deep their hands into public till,” Justice Banjoko held.
