Court remands Jang in prison, to entertain bail application next Thursday

A Jos High Court has ordered former Governor of Plateau State, Jonah David Jang, to be remanded in Jos Prisons till Thursday, May 31, when his bail application and that of Yusuf Gyang Pam, will be entertained.
         
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had charged Jang and Pam, who was cashier in the office of the secretary to the state government (SSG) when Jang was governor, for corruption and misappropriation of funds.
         
After listening to the arguments of the two parties for bail, the trial judge, Justice Daniel Longji, said that he had no doubt that the case was sensitive and contentious and should be adjourned to a later date for ruling on whether or not Jang should be granted bail.
         
The 12-count charges against Jang were read to him and Pam, but they pleaded not guilty.Before the proceedings, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC)’s lawyer, Adesina Raheem, said he understood that EFCC had not filed charges against the accused persons.

Striking out the case, Justice Longji said the prosecution had the right to withdraw the case and he thereby struck out the matter.Among other charges, Jang was accused of misappropriating N2b property belonging to Plateau State Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency (PLASMEDA) and another N2.307b released by the CBN between March 26 and April 9, 2015 in Jos.
         
He was also accused of misappropriating N2.307b, N4.357b, N2b on March 26, 2015 and N4.35b between January and May 2015.Pam was accused of misappropriating N10m on July 11, 2014 lodging that amount in a bank thereby committing a criminal offence punishable by law.

He was also accused of corruptly misappropriating another N1m, N10.5m and N500,000, among others. Counsel to Jang, Robert Clarke (SAN), said he applied to withdraw the first two bail applications, which were EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), did not oppose and were granted by the judge.