Ex-Taraba Governor Jolly Nyame loses bid to quash N1.64bn fraud charge

An FCT High Court sitting in Gudu on Tuesday ordered
former Taraba state governor, Jolly Nyame to enter his
defence in the N1.64 billion fraud charge preferred
against him.
The trial judge, Justice Adebukola Banjoko in ruling
against Nyame's no-case submission, held that the
prosecution has been able to establish through its
evidence that Nyame has a case to answer.
The court held that "a prima facie has been established
against the defendant and he is hereby ordered by the
court to enter his defence".
The court thereafter fixed March 8, 2017 for the
defendant to commence his defence which will run on
day-to-day basis in compliance with the provision of the
Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) is trying Nyame for allegedly misappropriating
N1.64 billion state funds while he was governor of
Taraba state.
Upon the closing of the prosecution case on November
27, 2016 after presenting 14 witnesses against Nyame,
the defence told the court that it intended to file a “no
case” submission, as it believed that there was no
prima facie case established against Nyame.
At the resumed sitting, both the prosecution and the
defence adopted their written addresses, and gave oral
arguments.
Charles Edosomwan (SAN) counsel for Mr. Nyame,
alluded to the fact that “crucial elements are missing in
this case”, and urged the court to “hold that the
testimony of prosecution witnesses have been so
damaged and can’t be relied on”.
He further argued that there was no direct link between
Mr. Nyame and a house allegedly procured by him
using the diverted state funds, noting that “nobody
tendered registered documents linking him to it”.
Prosecuting counsel, Adebisi Adeniyi, however,
countered Mr. Edosomwan’s submission, noting that “a
prima facie case had indeed been established against
Nyame after the prosecution called 14 witnesses who
testified to how they assisted him to divert state
funds”.