High Court Acquits Ex-Plateau Governor, Jang Of N6.3Billion Fraud Charge

Jonah Jang, a former Plateau State governor has been exonerated of the N6.3 billion in corruption charges that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had brought against him.

The former governor was exonerated by the Plateau State High Court, Jos Judicial Division, presided over by Justice Christy Dabup on Friday.

 

The anti-graft agency had accused Jang of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of Plateau State funds to the tune of N6.3 billion.

Yusuf Pam, a former cashier in the state government’s secretary’s office, was a co-defendant in the case.

 

They were first arraigned in June 2018, on 17 counts bordering on misappropriation of funds and criminal breach of trust.

 

SaharaReporters had reported that during the trial, Sunday Musa, an investigator with the EFCC, told the court that Pam withdrew cash running into millions of naira and handed it over to the former governor.

He claimed that their investigation revealed that the money was part of the N2 billion that the Central Bank of Nigeria gave to the state government as a loan in 2015 for disbursement to medium and small-scale enterprises.

But when the EFCC counsel sought to tender the statements that the commission obtained from Pam as an exhibit through Musa, counsel for Pam, S. Oyawole, raised an objection and argued that the said statements were obtained under duress from his client and therefore inadmissible in court.