“No, You Are Not Eligible To Contest Until 10 Years After”, Court Tells Convicted Nyame, Fmr. Gov Of Taraba State

By Suleiman Anyalewechi 

The hope of Rev Jolly Tanko Nyame, former Taraba State Governor  to relaunch his faded political career after his conviction and sentencing to jail, has suffered a huge set-back.

A Federal High Court Court sitting in Jalingo, the Taraba state capital, has ruled that Nyame is not eligible to contest any elective position as a result of his earlier conviction and sentencing on charges bordering on abuse of office and mismanagement of public funds.

The Source reports that Rev Nyame who presided over the affairs of Taraba State from 1999 to 2007, was in 2018,  convicted and sentenced to a 14-year jail term, by an Abuja Federal High Court.

The court presided over by Honourable Justice Adebukola Banjoko found him guilty on all 27 counts bordering on criminal breach of trust, abuse of office and misappropriation of public funds.

However, Nyame alongside about 158 others were in 2022 granted presidential reprieve by late President Mohammadu Buhari, thereby cutting short his stay in the correctional Centre.

The former Governor, early last year, began the process of rehabilitating his political career with plans to contest for a Senatorial seat in 2027 on the platform of the All Progressive Congress, APC.

However, his move which was believed to have unsettled some forces including, Governor Agbu Kefas, was to elicit a legal action from an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Barrister Badmus.

In the suit marked FHC/JAL/CS/6/2026 filed by Badmus on behalf of the Incorporated Trustees of the Taraba Progress Front, the applicant sought a clarification from the court on whether the  respondent( Nyame) by virtue of the presidential pardon of 2022, is eligible to contest elective office going by the provisions of Section 66(1)(d) and Section 182 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) 

The applicant had argued that the Constitution clearly bars persons convicted of offenses involving dishonesty from contesting public offices for 10 years from the date of conviction.

In his ruling, presiding Judge Honourable Justice Mashkur Salisu Mohammed  held that  under Section 175 of the Constitution, the presidential pardon granted to the respondent does not obvitiate the conviction, but rather the sentence.

According to the Court, the presidential pardon does not erase the constitutional restrictions attached to Nyame’s conviction.

“The presidential clemency granted to the respondent does not confer immediate eligibility to participate in elections until after the expiry of the mandatory 10-year period from the date of  conviction.

“The prerogative of mercy exercised in 2022 pardoned the sentence ,not the conviction. The constitutional disqualification under Section 182 (1) (e) remains operative.

“Accordingly, the 1st respondent ,Rev Jolly T. Nyame remains.ineligible to contest any elective office in Nigeria until 10 years after his conviction , being May 30,2028” Justice Mohammed ruled.

Consequently, the Court restrained  the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, political parties and the respondent from taking any steps towards  the participation of the respondent in the electoral processes leading up to the 2027 polls.

However, while the applicant has described the judgment as a welcome development, Nyame’s legal team said they will study it and afterwards determine the next line of action.