Plateau court acquits ex-Gov Jang of alleged N6.3bn corruption charges

A Plateau State High Court, Jos on Friday discharged and acquitted former Governor Jonah Jang, in a case of alleged N6.3 billion fraud brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Both the former governor and Yusuf Pam, a former cashier in the office of the Secretary to the Plateau State government’, were discharged by the court presided over by Justice Christy Dabup.

The anti-graft agency first arraigned Jang, who was the governor between 2007 and 2015 alongside Pam, in March, 2018 before Justice Daniel Longji on a 17 -count charge for alleged misappropriation of N6.3bn belonging to the state government.

Justice Longji departed in 2019, putting an end to the case’s continued hearing after he had been deliberating on it for over two years.

However, the case was reopened in 2020 when Justice Christy Dabup, a new judge, was given the case by the state’s chief judge.

Counsel to the EFCC,  Rotimi Jacobs, and Mike Ozekhome, defence counsel had adopted their final addresses on July 14, 2022.

However, the court ruled in favour of the defendants and discharged them.