A state High Court sitting in Jos, Plateau State has discharged and acquitted a former governor of the state, Jonah Jang, of N6.3 billion corruption charges levelled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a judgement delivered on Friday, the judge, Christy Dabup also discharged Jang’s co-defendant, Yusuf Pam, former cashier in the office of the secretary to the Plateau state government who was accused alongside the former governor.
The former governor, alongside his co-accused, were first arraigned before Daniel Longji, a judge, in March 2018 on a 17-count charge bodering on misappropriation of N6.3bn belonging to the state government.
However, upon arraignment, they pleaded not guilty.
Among the charges were the alleged diversion of N2 billion provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for empowering youths and women on small and medium scale enterprises and misappropriation/diversion of funds meant for the State Universal basic education (SUBEB).
In a ruling on Friday, Justice Dabup said the EFCC could not prove the misappropriation, diversion and public funds entrusted to the former Governor.
The court then ruled in favour of the defendants and discharged them.