Nigerian Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction and sentence of a former Governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, to 12 years imprisonment for N1.6bn corruption charges.
However, the five-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili, in its unanimous judgment, set aside the N100m fine imposed on him by the Court of Appeal.
Delivering the judgment of the Supreme court on Nyame’s appeal, Justice Amina Augie, held that the Court of Appeal was wrong to have imposed the fine on the appellant without hearing from him.
“The lower court ought to have heard from the parties, especially, the appellant who appealed for the reduction of the sentence imposed by the trial court, before imposing those fines on him,” Justice Augie ruled.
Nonetheless, she affirmed the guilt and conviction of the ex-governor by upholding the Court of Appeal’s reduction of the 14 years’ imprisonment to 12 years.
The judge, who held that the ex-governor’s appeal succeeded in part, ruled that, “Allowing the appeal in its entirety is a tall order, but there is no question that the fines were a nullity”.