- Former Governor of Plateau State Jonah Jang has been acquitted of ₦6.3 billion corruption charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The former governor was acquitted Friday by the Jos Judicial Division presided over by Judge Christy Dabup.
The Anti-Graft body had charged Jang with breach of trust and embezzlement of ₦6.3 billion of Plateau State funds.
Former cashier at the State Government Office, Yusuf Pam was a co-defendant in the case.
They were first indicted in June 2018 on 17 counts bordering on embezzlement of funds and breach of trust.
EFCC investigator, Sunday Musa told the court during the trial that Pam withdrew millions of dollars in cash and gave it to the former governor.
According to Musa, investigations found the money was part of a ₦2 billion naira loan that the Central Bank of Nigeria lent to the state government in 2015 to disburse to small and medium-sized businesses.
But when the EFCC’s counsel sought to release statements that the committee had obtained from Pam as an exhibit through Musa, Pam’s attorney, S. Oyawole, objected and argued that the aforementioned claims were brought under duress from his client and therefore could not be searched. .
