The two most common retirement scenarios for governors in Nigeria is to become a member of the National Assembly or spend years defending yourself against corruption charges in court. Some even have the dishonourable distinction of doing both at the same time.
On Wednesday, May 30, 2018, Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Gudu, Abuja, sentenced former Taraba state governor, Jolly Nyame to 14 years imprisonment without an option of fine for the misappopriation of funds during his tenure. Before Jang starts getting distressed by the thoughts of becoming lonely behind bars, he should feel comforted by the thought that there are other former governors who are currently facing corruption trials and might join him in prison, sooner or later.
1. Jonah Jang
Jonah Jang was Plateau State governor between 2007 and 2015 after which he was elected the Senator representing Plateau North in the National Assembly. True to stereotype, the former governor is currently standing trial for alleged misappropriation of N6.3 billion during his time in office.
He is alleged to have misappropriated N2 billion released by the CBN for disbursement to small and medium enterprises in the state under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Funds (MSMEDF). He is also accused of siphoning the sum of N4.3 billion from the state’s treasury just months before the end of his tenure.
2. Orji Kalu
While Nyame was getting sent to prison on Wednesday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was filing an amended 39-count charge before a Federal High Court in Lagos against former Abia state governor, Orji Uzor Kalu in an alleged N3.2 billion fraud case. Kalu is accused of diverting the sum in question from the treasury of the Abia state government between 2003 and 2005, in contravention of the provisions of sections 15(6), 16, and 21 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2005, provisions of the Money Laundering Act of 1995 as amended by the amendment Act No.9 of 2002, as well as section 477 of the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation, 1990.
While this sounds serious, Kalu has remained defiant, telling the court that he has no case to answer while he continues to lead the National Movement for the Re-election of President Buhari.
3. Ibrahim Shema
Former Katsina state governor, Ibrahim Shema, has also been dragged before a Katsina High Court for misappropriating the sum of N11 billion belonging to the State/Local Government Joint Account during his tenure between 2007 and 2015.
Shema is also currently standing trial before the Federal High Court sitting in Katsina on a 26-count money laundering charge, amounting to N5.7 billion SURE-P funds during his tenure. As he juggles two corruption cases where he’s been accused of criminal beach of trust, fraud, conspiracy and forgery, it’d take something exceptional for the former governor not to land in a retirement home that’s not his choice.
4. Rashidi Ladoja
Rashidi Ladoja is another former governor who has had to get used to the hobby of showing up in court as the EFCC has accused him of money laundering to the tune of N4.7 billion.
The former Oyo state governor is standing trial at a Federal High Court in Lagos alongside a former Commissioner for Finance, Waheed Akanbi, for conspiring to steal from the treasury of the state government while he was governor.
Even though he has pleaded not guilty to the charges (of course), Ladoja stands accused of converting the state’s funds for personal use through fraudulent methods, in contravention of sections 17(a) and 18(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004 and is liable to be punished under sections 14(1), 16(a) (b) and 18(2) of the same Act. Ladoja was Oyo state governor between 2003 and 2007 (he was impeached in January 2016 but reinstated in December 2016) and made an unsucceessful attempt to return to the Government House in 2011.
5. Mukhtar Ramalan Yero
A day after Nyame was sentenced to prison, another former governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, was dragged in front of a Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna for corruption.
The former Kaduna governor was arraigned on a 4-count charge bordering on money laundering, criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of public fund, and breach of trust. He is in court over his involvement in the disbursement of N750 million used by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2015 election campaign.
Yero was Kaduna state governor between 2012 (after elected governor, Patrick Yakowa, died in a helicopter crash) and 2015 when he lost to current governor, Nasir El-Rufai. At the rate former governors are making shameful appearances in courtrooms for corruption-related charged, the federal government might start to consider plans to build a special prison to accommodate them all.
Credit: Pulse ng
