Former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye, and a former Taraba State Governor, Jolly Nyame, and others have been released from prison.
Both men were released from the Kuje Custodial Centre, Abuja, four months after Buhari granted them the presidential pardon.
On April 14, 2022, a pardon was granted to both men amongst others by the Council of State, under the leadership of President Buhari.
The decision generated a lot of criticisms from among many Nigerians.
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After the pardon, many had expected their immediate release from prison but they were to remain in prison four more months in what officials said had to do with bureaucratic bottle neck.
But on Monday, the gates of the prison were opened for the duo which elicited rounds of jubilation in Jos and Jalingo as soon as the news got to the cities.
According to a source, there was wild jubilation in Dariye’s Mushere community in Bokkos local government area of Plateau State as the villagers trooped out en masse to celebrate his official release.
“The whole of Jos has been thrown into wild jubilation when the news got to town that Chief Joshua Dariye has been finally released. In Mushere where he comes from, everyone trooped out to celebrate the return of the former governor.
“His political associates most of whom were his appointees when he was governor have regrouped in Jos and have moved to the airport to await his arrival.
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“Circumstances behind Dariye’s release may not be unconnected with the recent appointment of Gov. Simon Lalong as the APC Campaign DG as he is doing everything possible to mend fences with top politicians in the state to make his job easier,” the source who is a top political analyst said.
Nyame was convicted in 2018 and given 14 years imprisonment for diverting public funds, but his sentence was later reduced to 12 years in 2020, following a ruling by the supreme court which affirmed the judgment of the court of appeal on the matter.
On his part, Dariye was sentenced to 14 years in prison for N1.126 billion fraud, but his jail term was reduced by four years, following a verdict by the supreme court affirming an earlier judgment by the court of appeal.